Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT15 S2 Q21 Explanation

Claim: Country X’s government lowered tariff

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

TopicsPrinciple-Strengthen

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Stimulus

Claim: Country X’s government lowered tariff barriers because doing so served the interests companies.

Principle: In order for a change to be explained by the advantage some person or group gained from it, it must be shown how the interests of the person in bringing about the change.

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
21.

Which one of the following, if true, can most logically serve as a premise for an argument that uses the principle

Answer choices

  1. Trap9% picked this

    Foreign companies did benefit when Country X lowered tariff barriers, but consumers in Country X

  2. Trap13% picked this

    In the period since tariff barriers were lowered, price competition among importers has severely limited importers’ profits from selling foreign

  3. Trap3% picked this

    It was impossible to predict how Country X’s economic reforms, which included lowering tariff barriers, would affect the

  4. Trap10% picked this

    Many of the foreign companies that benefited from Country X’s lowering tariff barriers compete fiercely among themselves both in Country

  5. Correct65% picked this

    Although foreign companies benefited when Country X lowered tariff barriers, there is no other evidence that these foreign

    Why this is right

    Answer E is correct.

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

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