Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT143 S3 Q8 Explanation

The local news media have long

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

TopicsMain Conclusion

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Stimulus

The local news media have long heralded Clemens as an honest politician. They were proven wrong when Clemens was caught up in a corruption scandal. This demonstrates how the local media show too much deference toward public figures. Even the editor of the local leads that might have exposed the scandal far earlier.

What this question is testing

Main Conclusion

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
8.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn

Answer choices

  1. Premise0% picked this

    Clemens has long been portrayed as an honest politician by the

    This does not match the 3rd sentence. It matches the 1st sentence, which was a fact and was not supported by any premises.

  2. Unstated Inference6% picked this

    The local news media were wrong to herald Clemens as an

    This does not resemble the 3rd sentence. This is basically an inference that can be drawn by combining the 1st and 2nd sentences, but this answer doesn't match any explicit claim in the paragraph. We should be able (in 99% of cases) to point to the claim we think is the conclusion. We shouldn't be inventing an implied conclusion unless the question stem asks for such a thing.

  3. Correct86% picked this

    The local news media show too much deference toward

    Why this is right

    This matches our 3rd sentence, which we identified as the Main Conclusion. It is an opinion from the author, and it is supported by the 1st, 2nd, and 4th sentences.

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

  4. Premise Last-Claim Trap1% picked this

    Reporters from the local newspaper neglected to follow leads that might have exposed the

    This is not a match for the 3rd sentence. This comes from the final sentence, which was a factual premise and not supported by any other claims in the argument. Also, we want to be very cautious about picking the last claim as the conclusion on Main Conclusion. Sometimes the Main Conclusion will be last, but only like 10% of the time, so the odds are not in our favor.

  5. Assumption7% picked this

    The local newspaper's treatment of Clemens is indicative of its treatment of public

    This does not match the 3rd sentence. This feels like an unstated assumption that gets us from the 2nd sentence to the 3rd sentence. But we aren't supposed to be finding an answer that says an invisible claim. We're supposed to find the answer that matches the explicit claim we picked as the Main Conclusion.

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