Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT15 S2 Q11 Explanation

Should a journalist’s story begin

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

TopicsMain Conclusion

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

Should a journalist’s story begin with the set phrase “in a surprise development,” as routinely happens? Well, not if the surprise was merely the journalist’s, since journalists should not intrude themselves into their stories, and not if the surprise was someone else’s, because if some person’s surprise was worth mentioning at all, in that case, however, there is no point in belaboring the obvious.

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
11.

Which one of the following most accurately states the conclusion of the

Answer choices

  1. Wrong Takeaway21% picked this

    Journalists should reserve use of the phrase “in a surprise development” for major developments that

    The author doesn't think in any of the three circumstances that she laid out that a journalist should use the "in a surprise development" intro.

  2. Wrong Takeaway4% picked this

    The phrase “in a surprise development” is appropriately used only where someone’s being surprised

    The author doesn't think in any of the three circumstances that she laid out that a journalist should use the "in a surprise development" intro.

  3. Not the Conclusion2% picked this

    The phrase “in a surprise development” is used in three distinct

    We can almost infer this claim from the paragraph, although the author is laying out three hypothetical circumstances. We don't know if the phrase is actually used in those three cases. But even if we could infer this claim, it wouldn't capture the opinion the author was selling us and supporting with evidence. This isn't even an opinionated claim.

  4. Wrong Takeaway3% picked this

    Journalists should make the point that a development comes as a surprise when summing up, not

    The author doesn't think in any of the three circumstances that she laid out that a journalist should use the "in a surprise development" intro. And she never comments on whether a story should end with such a phrase, but it's implied that the author would be against the phrase appearing anywhere in the article (unless it's being directly attributed to a specific surprised person somewhere in the middle of the article).

  5. Correct70% picked this

    Introducing stories with the phrase “in a surprise development” is not

    Why this is right

    This is our closest meaning match for what we were looking for: "Journalists should not begin a story with set phrase in a surprise development." Saying that journalists shouldn't do it is similar to saying it's not good journalistic practice. The author supports this opinion by presenting three different cases in which there is some surprise, and in all three cases she Rules Out the idea of starting an article with this phrase.

    Skill tested: Main Conclusion · 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