Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT130 S4 Q16 Explanation

Madden: Industrialists address problems

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

TopicsMost Supported

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Stimulus

Madden: Industrialists address problems by simplifying them, but in farming that strategy usually leads to oversimplification. For example, industrialists see water retention and drainage as different and opposite functions—that good topsoil both drains and retains water is a fact alien to industrial logic. To facilitate water retention, they use a terrace or solved when agriculture is the domain of the industrialist, not of the farmer.

What this question is testing

Most Supported

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
16.

The situation as Madden describes it best illustrates which one of the

Answer choices

  1. Too Strong: "most important"0% picked this

    The handling of water drainage and retention is the most important part

    We were told one example of a general phenomenon. The author didn't give us any indication that this example relates to the most important part of good farming.

  2. Correct66% picked this

    The problems of farming should be viewed in all

    Why this is right

    This is akin to saying, "oversimplification leads to problems in farming". We know industrialists tend to oversimplify farming problems and create more problems than they solve in doing so, so this is a safely-worded takeaway. This may sound strong, but it's equivalent to saying, "The problems of farming should not be oversimplified."

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

  3. Too Strong: "better than anyone"7% picked this

    Farmers are better than anyone else at solving

    All we know is that farmers are better than industrialists at solving farming problems.

  4. Too Strong: "never"12% picked this

    Industrial solutions for problems in farming should never

    Too harsh. The first sentence says that industrialists usually oversimplify the farming problems they try to solve, but that still leaves room for the possibility that sometimes industrialists could be consulted.

  5. Too Strong: "fundamentally flawed"14% picked this

    The approach to problem solving typical of industrialists is

    Their approach isn't fundamentally flawed, it's just not as good an approach when it comes to farming problems as that of the farmer.

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