Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT122 S2 Q24 Explanation

Judicial punishment’s power to deter

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

TopicsParallel

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Stimulus

Judicial punishment’s power to deter people from committing crimes is a function of the severity of the penalty and the likelihood of one’s actually receiving the penalty. Occasionally, juries decide that a crime’s penalty is too severe and so refuse to convict a person they are penalty may decrease the deterrent power of judicial punishment.

What this question is testing

Parallel

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
24.

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

Answer choices

  1. Correct79% picked this

    Success in attaining one’s first academic job depends on the quality of one’s dissertation and the amount of time spent working on it in

    Why this is right

    Answer A is correct.

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

  2. Trap5% picked this

    People who drive cars having many safety features are likely to drive more aggressively than do people who drive cars having few safety features.

  3. Trap10% picked this

    A new surgical technique is developed to treat a dangerous condition. This technique enables people to live longer than does an older form of

  4. Trap3% picked this

    To be attractive to tourists, it is best for a city to have both wide appeal and sufficient hotel space. Though a sufficient number

  5. Trap3% picked this

    Many young, talented artists, because they are unknown, decide to charge low prices for their work. As their reputations grow, the prices they can

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