Logical Reasoning

PT148 · S1 · Q24 Lucinda will soon be attending

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

  • 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

Lucinda will soon be attending National University as an engineering major.

Conclusion (therefore)

Lucinda will probably live in Western Hall.

Evidence

Lucinda will be attending National University as an engineering major.

At National University, most residents of Western Hall are engineering majors.

Evaluate

Given that ... most residents of Western Hall are engineering majors and that ... Lucinda is an engineering major How could we argue ... Lucinda probably won't live in Western Hall?

Do most engineering majors life in Western Hall? If not, then there's no reason to think that just because she's an engineering major that she'll probably live in Western Hall.

Suppose that Eastern Hall has 1000 students and Western Hall has 100 students. Most of the students in both dorms are engineering majors.

If all you know is that Lucinda is an engineering major, would you conclude that she's probably going to end up in Western Hall? No, it's a safer bet that she lands in Eastern Hall, since there are at least 501 engineering majors there whereas there are only at least 51 engineering majors in Western Hall.

To make the argument the author wants to make, he needs his Most premise to be reversed. If he had said this, it would be a valid argument:

Premise 1 - Lucinda is an engineering major Premise 2 - Most engineering majors live in Western Hall Conclusion - thus, Lucinda will probably live in Western Hall

The flaw is that his Most premise is backwards. Instead of telling us that Most people with the quality that Lucinda has (engineering major) live in Western, he told us that most people who live in Western have a quality that Lucinda has.

Goal

Since we see all these repeating symbols (Lucinda, western hall, national university, and engineering major are all mentioned twice), it makes sense to try to convert this argument into an algebraic recipe.

Premise1: Thing A will be X. Lucinda will be engineering major.

Premise 2: Most Y's are X. Most Western residents are engineering majors

Conclusion: Therefore, thing A will probably be Y. Lucinda will probably be a Western resident.

In terms of strategizing how we quickly see whether an answer is worth fully reading, let's look to see whether the first half of a Most claim is the backend of the conclusion. (i.e. in the original argument, "residents of Western Hall" was the first half of the Most premise and the second half of the conclusion)

24.

Which one of the following arguments exhibits a flawed pattern of reasoning most similar to that exhibited by the argument above?

  1. A major shopping mall is

    Bad Most/Conclusion Connection

    The first half of the Most claim is "major shopping malls". The second half of the conclusion is "regional economic hub". We know those two things have to match, so there's no need to read the rest of this answer.

    36% picked this

  2. Cities that are regional economic

    Bad Most/Conclusion Connection

    At first it looks like this answer doesn't even have a Most claim, but the word "generally / usually / tends to / typically" means "most of the time". If X's are generally Y, we can say "Most X's are Y". So, the first half of the Most (generally) claim is "regional economic hubs", and the second half of the conclusion is "experience tremendous economic growth in the future". We know those two things have to match, so there's no need to read the rest of this answer.

    2% picked this

  3. Cities that are regional economic

    No "Most" Premise

    We're not going to replicate this author's flaw of having a reversed Most premise if there's not even a Most premise!

    2% picked this

  4. A major shopping mall was

    No "Most" Premise

    We're not going to replicate this author's flaw of having a reversed Most premise if there's not even a Most premise! There's a "most" in the conclusion, but that's not the same as "most" in the premise.

    3% picked this

  5. Correct

    Most cities that are regional

    Why this is right

    The first half of the Most premise is "regional economic hubs" and the second half of the conclusion is "regional economic hub". They match! This one is worth reading (and since we eliminated all the other ones, it would be a very high percentage to just pick this and move on). Premise 1: Thing A will be X. Our city is going to have a major shopping mall. Premise 2: Most Y's are X. Most regional economic hubs have a major shopping mall. Conclusion: Thing A will probably be Y. Our city will probably be a regional economic hub.

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

    57% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

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

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