Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT124 S3 Q22 Explanation

A recent survey indicates

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

TopicsParadox

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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

A recent survey indicates that the average number of books read annually per capita has declined in each of the last three years. However, it also found profits during the same period.

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
22.

Each of the following, if true, helps to resolve the survey's apparently

Answer choices

  1. Resolves the Paradox29% picked this

    Recent cutbacks in government spending have forced public libraries to purchase fewer

    If libraries had fewer popular contemporary novels, this may drive readers into bookstores to find a copy.

  2. Correct59% picked this

    Due to the installation of sophisticated new antitheft equipment, the recent increase in shoplifting that has hit most retail businesses

    Why this is right

    This might explain why most bookstores did not report declining profits, but it it is too weak to explain why profits increased during the past three years.

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

  3. Resolves the Paradox4% picked this

    Over the past few years many bookstores have capitalized on the lucrative coffee industry by

    Adds a source of profits other than books.

  4. Resolves the Paradox3% picked this

    Bookstore owners reported a general shift away from the sale of inexpensive paperback novels and toward the sale

    Provides a change in consumer behavior that would increase the profits of bookstores.

  5. Resolves the Paradox5% picked this

    Citing a lack of free time, many survey respondents indicated that they had canceled magazine subscriptions in favor of purchasing individual issues

    If people cancel magazine subscriptions in favor of purchasing individual issues at bookstores, this may increase profits for most bookstores.

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