Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT137 S2 Q17 Explanation

Educator: Some experimental educational

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

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Stimulus

Educator: Some experimental educational programs, based on the principle that children's first education should take place at home, instruct parents in how to be their child's "first teacher." The school performance of the children in these programs is programs are successful and should be expanded.

What this question is testing

Weaken

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion less likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that look negative but attack a claim the argument never relied on.

Winning move

Find the assumption the argument depends on, then pick the choice that undermines it.

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.

Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the

Answer choices

  1. Out of Scope1% picked this

    Not all small children enjoy being taught by

    Whether or not small children enjoy being taught by their parents is not relevant to whether that instruction improves the children’s performance.

  2. Correct83% picked this

    Most of the parents participating in the programs have prior experience

    Why this is right

    This weakens the argument by providing a possible alternative explanation for why the children performed better than average in school.

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

  3. Strengthen0% picked this

    Surveys show that most parents would approve expanding

    This supports the view that these programs should be expanded.

  4. Too Weak1% picked this

    The cost of expanding the programs has not been

    This fails to provide a significant reason not to expand these experimental educational programs.

  5. Too Weak15% picked this

    Some children who did not participate in the programs performed exceptionally

    The argument is about average student performance, so the children in this answer are too few to represent a significant counterexample.

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