Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT120 S4 Q17 Explanation

People who have never been

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsParallel Flaw

Keep going in LSAT Lab

  • Save & drill this skill build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

People who have never been asked to do more than they can easily do are people who never do all they can. Alex is someone who has clearly not done all that he is capable of doing, so obviously do more than what comes to him easily.

What this question is testing

Parallel Flaw

The Original

The argument says:

Evaluate

This is "affirming the consequent" — a classic logic mistake. The premise gives one cause of underperformance (never being pushed). The argument then sees underperformance and assumes that one cause must be at work. But underperformance can come from many sources: laziness, illness, lack of resources. Just because everyone never-pushed underperforms does not mean every underperformer was never pushed.

It is like saying: Bob could have a cold or allergies. Coughing does not narrow it down.

Goal

Find the answer with this exact form: a conditional, an observation that the conclusion side of the conditional holds, then a conclusion that the original cause holds.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
17.

The flawed reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to the flawed reasoning in

Answer choices

  1. Correct58% picked this

    Anybody who has a dog knows the true value of companionship, and Alicia has demonstrated that she knows the true value of companionship; thus

    Why this is right

    Same flaw. Premise: anyone with a dog knows the value of companionship (dog → knows companionship). Premise: Alicia knows the value of companionship. Conclusion: Alicia has a dog. The argument observes the consequent (knows companionship) and concludes the antecedent (has a dog). But Alicia could know the value of companionship from many sources — friends, family, cats. The structure mirrors the original exactly: a conditional, observation of the result, and an unjustified leap back to the cause.

    Skill tested: Parallel Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  2. Bad Match13% picked this

    Anyone who discovers something new is someone who has examined all the possible solutions to a problem. Fran has surely never discovered something new.

    This argument has the form: discoverer → has examined all solutions. Fran is not a discoverer. Therefore Fran has never explored all solutions. That is "denying the antecedent," not "affirming the consequent." The original argument observes the consequent and concludes the antecedent; this one denies the antecedent and concludes the consequent is false. Different structure, different flaw.

  3. Bad Match6% picked this

    Any person who does not face sufficient challenges is a person who does not accomplish everything he or she can. Jill is a person

    The argument here is: not facing challenges → not accomplishing all. Jill accomplishes all she can. Therefore Jill faces challenges. This is contrapositive reasoning, which is logically valid — not flawed at all. Since the original argument is flawed, this cannot be a parallel flaw.

  4. Bad Match5% picked this

    By definition, a polygon is any closed plane figure bounded by straight lines. That object pictured on the chalkboard is certainly a closed plane

    This argument is valid: a polygon is defined as a closed plane figure bounded by straight lines, the chalkboard object is a closed plane figure bounded by straight lines, so it is a polygon. That is straightforward definition application — not flawed reasoning. Cannot match the original's flaw.

  5. Bad Match18% picked this

    People who have never lost something that they cannot afford to lose will be lax about keeping their property secure. Jon is lax about

    The structure here is different. Premise: never lost something irreplaceable → lax about security. Then the argument observes Jon is lax about security with replaceable things and concludes he never lost anything. This is more confused — it switches scope (lax with replaceable things vs. lax in general), and the structure does not cleanly mirror the original. Not a clean parallel.

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free