Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT151 S2 Q19 Explanation

Munroe was elected in a landslide

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

TopicsParallel

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

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

Munroe was elected in a landslide. It is impossible for Munroe to have been elected without both a fundamental shift in the sentiments of the electorate and a well-run campaign. Thus, one cannot avoid the conclusion shift in the sentiments of the electorate.

What this question is testing

Parallel

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
19.

Which one of the following arguments is most closely parallel in its reasoning to

Answer choices

  1. Bad Premise Match4% picked this

    The Park Street Cafe closed this year even though its customer base was satisfied. So, because its customer base was satisfied, the only conclusion

    We know from the indicator words where to find our conclusion, the very last claim. "So, because [support], [conclusion]" Are either of the first two claims the Conditional premise we're looking for? Nope. No conditional premise, so no bueno. (notice how this answer is trying to appeal to us by using similar wording to draw its conclusion: "the only conclusion one can draw" is a very similar sounding conclusion to the original's "one cannot avoid the conclusion". Sometimes the correct answer mimics wording from the original argument, but usually superficial similarities like same topic or same language is how they write a trap answer)

  2. Correct75% picked this

    The Park Street Cafe closed this year. So we must conclude that the Park Street Cafe was facing strong competition, since it would not

    Why this is right

    We know from the indicator words where to find our conclusion. "So we must conclude [conclusion], since [support]." Do we have a conditional premise? Yes, the final claim is a conditional premise, and it even has an AND in the outcome. If that cafe → facing strong competition AND closed customer base unsatisfied Do we have a factual premise telling us that the trigger of this rule has happened? Yes, the first claim is a factual premise telling us that the Cafe closed. Is the conclusion saying that part of our rule's outcome is true? Yes, the conclusion is saying that "face strong competition" must be true (as well as "customer base unsatisfied", of course).

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

  3. Bad Conclusion/Premise Match4% picked this

    No one can argue that the Park Street Cafe closed this year because its customer base was not satisfied. Even if its customer base

    Here is what we were looking for premise: here's a rule premise: here's a fact that triggers the rule. conclusion: here's (part of) the outcome of rule. Does this argument provide a conditional rule? Yes, with "only if", in the final claim. "Only if" always indicates the Right side (necessary) condition. cafe closed → facing strong competition This rule doesn't have an AND in the outcome, so if we're guessing aggressively, we should check out now. If we want to go further than our second premise should be factually establishing that the trigger happened. Do we have a premise that says "the cafe closed"? Not really, but it's sort of an embedded truth in the first sentence. That, again, is a weak match, so we would bail unless we were desperate to make this work. If we're being charitable, then we have this so far: premise: here's a rule closed → facing strong competition premise: here's a fact that triggers the rule. closed. conclusion: here's (part of) the outcome of rule. Our conclusion should then be "we must conclude that they were facing strong competition." However, the first sentence here is the conclusion and it's definitely not saying that.

  4. Bad Conclusion/Premise Match10% picked this

    The Park Street Cafe closed this year. There was no reason for it to remain open if it was facing strong competition and had

    If we're peeking at conclusions to see if they match before even bothering to read the answer choice, this one would stick out as hopeless. Original conclusion: one can't avoid concluding X This conclusion: one can't rule out possibility of X Those are claims with completely different levels of strength. The original conclusion is certain of itself. This answer's conclusion is only saying something is possible. That would be enough to disqualify it. It does have a conditional premise, but the AND is on the trigger, not the outcome. "If" signifies a Left side (suff) condition. facing strong competition no reason and → for it to unsatisfied customer base remain open We could make it more like the original by contraposing, but then it would be an OR. some reason for not facing strong comp it to remain open → or satisfied customer base We're also going to have a mismatch between the factual premise "the Park Street Cafe closed" and the trigger of this rule "there was some reason for the Cafe to remain open". So it's hopeless top to bottom.

  5. Weak Conclusion/Evidence Match7% picked this

    The Park Street Cafe closed this year. In order to stay open, it needed a lack of competition and it needed a satisfied customer

    This does have a conditional premise, a factual premise, and a certain conclusion, so it might be worth reading. It's hard to see quickly, but it actually has a third premise, so if we saw that we could bail. What's our conditional premise? staying a lack of competition open → AND satisfied customer base The rest of the argument should establish the trigger happened and then conclude one of the outcomes, for example: The Park Street Café has remained open. Thus we must conclude that there was a lack of competition. Instead, the factual premise contradicts the trigger. And then the bonus premise no one asked for says "there was both competition and an unsatisfied customer base".

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