Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT140 S2 Q21 Explanation

Editor: Most of the books

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

TopicsMust be True

Keep going in LSAT Lab

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Free to start

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

Editor: Most of the books of fiction we have published were submitted by literary agents for writers they represented; the rest were received directly from fiction writers from whom we requested submissions. No nonfiction manuscript has been given serious attention, let alone been published, unless it was the manuscript after careful review of the writer's book proposal.

What this question is testing

Must be True

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
21.

Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the

Answer choices

  1. Too Strong12% picked this

    Most unrequested manuscripts that the publishing house receives are not given

    The statements do not indicate the percentage of manuscripts received but not published.

  2. Unsupported Relationship15% picked this

    Most of the books that the publishing house publishes that are not by renowned authors

    Most of the books that the publishing house publishes that are not by renowned authors could nonfiction by authors whose manuscripts were requested.

  3. Too Strong20% picked this

    If a manuscript has received careful attention at the publishing house, then it is either a work of fiction or the

    Such work could also be nonfiction by an author whose manuscript was requested by the publishing house.

  4. Unsupported Comparison9% picked this

    The publishing house is less likely to give careful consideration to a manuscript that was submitted directly by a writer than one that was

    This fails to distinguish between authors who are renowned and those are not.

  5. Correct44% picked this

    Any unrequested manuscripts not submitted by literary agents that the publishing house has published were

    Why this is right

    Since all fiction manuscripts were submitted by Lit Agent or Requested, we could say F → LA or R And this question starts with a trigger that is saying ~R and ~LA → ____ "All the ones not requested and not from a Lit Agent ..." We know that those can't be fiction manuscripts, since all fiction was LA or R. So this answer choice is talking about nonfiction manuscripts. We knew that nonfiction were either a renowned figure or requested: ~F → RF or R Since this answer choice is saying these manuscripts were unrequested, the only option is that they were from a renowned figure.

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

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free