Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT120 S4 Q18 Explanation

It has been a staple

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

TopicsParadox

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

Start practicing free

Free to start

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

It has been a staple of drama to feature an innocent young protagonist, eager to make a mark on the world, who is stymied by an indifferent or hostile society. Since the playwrights of such works wished the audience to empathize with the protagonist, historians do not the societies presented in the plays were really like.

What this question is testing

Paradox

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

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

The question
18.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the viewpoint of the

Answer choices

  1. Trap3% picked this

    The historians believe that playwrights tend to be more critical of their own societies than

  2. Correct90% picked this

    The historians believe that playwrights tend to exaggerate the weaknesses of a society for the

    Why this is right

    Answer B is correct.

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

  3. Trap3% picked this

    The historians believe that plays tend to provide useful information about the time and society in

  4. Trap3% picked this

    The historians believe that plays often contain serious revelations of what the societies presented in

  5. Trap1% picked this

    The historians believe that only the most popular plays within a society accurately

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

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

Save and practice this skill
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