The average literate person today

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

TopicsParadox

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Stimulus

The average literate person today spends significantly less time reading than the average literate person did 50 years ago, yet many more books are sold sold 50 years ago.

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

Each of the following, if true, helps resolve the apparent discrepancy

Answer choices

Trap8% picked this
The population of literate people is significantly larger today than it was
8%
Trap2% picked this
People who read books 50 years ago were more likely to read books borrowed from libraries than are
2%
Trap3% picked this
The average scholar or other person who uses books professionally today owns and consults many more different books than did the average scholar
3%
Correct83% picked this
People of 50 years ago were more likely than people are today to display large collections of books as a sign
Why this is right
Answer D is correct.
Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
83%
Trap3% picked this
Books sold now tend to be shorter and easier to read than were books sold
3%

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