Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT142 S4 Q5 Explanation

Government official: Although the

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

TopicsPrinciple-Strengthen

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Stimulus

Government official: Although the determination of local residents to rebuild hiking trails recently devastated by a landslide indicates that they are strongly committed to their community, the government should not assist them in rebuilding. The reason is clear: there is a location that could cause serious injury or worse.

What this question is testing

Principle-Strengthen

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
5.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the reasoning in the

Answer choices

  1. Bad Conclusion Match0% picked this

    Residents should not be allowed to rebuild trails unless the government assists

    This choice discusses what residents should not be allowed to do, rather than focusing on government actions. It doesn't align with the conclusion about government responsibilities.

  2. Opposite (if anything)0% picked this

    The determination of residents to rebuild hiking trails devastated by landslides should be what determines government

    This sounds more like, "If residents are determined to rebuild, then government SHOULD support it".

  3. Bad Trigger Match0% picked this

    Government agencies should not assist people with projects unless those people are strongly committed

    This rule says, "if people are not strongly committed to their community, govt should not assist with projects". The outcome matches our conclusion, but the trigger doesn't apply to our evidence. The situation actually indicates people with a strong commitment to their community, making this trigger irrelevant to the current evidence.

  4. Correct97% picked this

    The government should not assist in projects that are very likely to result in circumstances that could

    Why this is right

    This provides a principle stating that if a project is very likely to result in serious injury, the government should not assist. It accurately covers the given evidence of strong likelihood of injury and aligns with the conclusion by stating the government's role is not to assist in this context.

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

  5. Bad Conclusion Match2% picked this

    Residents should be discouraged from rebuilding in any area that has had an extensive

    Similar to (A), this addresses residents rather than specifying government actions, thus irrelevant to the issue of government involvement in rebuilding high-risk trails.

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