Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT159 S1 Q7 Explanation

Critic: It generally holds true of concert pianists

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

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Stimulus

Critic: It generally holds true of concert pianists that the more famous the musician, the greater the pleasure of his or her audience. In my view, this is only fair and should give no cause audiences to distinguish good playing from bad.

What this question is testing

Strengthen

Conclusion

The critic says audiences enjoying famous pianists more is fine — it doesn't mean audiences are dumb.

Evidence

The pattern: more famous pianist, more audience pleasure.

Evaluate

For the critic's defense to make sense, fame has to actually track talent. If fame is just marketing or buzz, then audiences enjoying famous pianists more would suggest they can't tell good from bad — they'd just be reacting to celebrity.

So to strengthen the critic, we want to know that famous pianists really are more talented. Then audiences are tracking quality, not just fame.

Goal

Find the answer that connects pianists' fame to actual musical talent.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
7.

Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the

Answer choices

  1. Correct81% picked this

    The fame of concert pianists usually reflects their talent

    Why this is right

    This bridges the gap. The critic's defense — that audiences enjoying famous pianists more does not show audiences cannot judge — only works if fame correlates with talent. This answer says exactly that: a pianist's fame usually reflects their talent. Given that, audiences who get more pleasure from more famous pianists are tracking real quality, not just hype. The critic's anti-cynicism conclusion is supported.

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

  2. Opposite3% picked this

    Some of the finest concert pianists are unknown to the

    If some of the finest pianists are unknown to the public, then fame and talent come apart — and audiences who enjoy famous pianists more would be missing some of the truly best players. That undermines the critic's defense of the audience by suggesting fame and quality diverge.

  3. No Impact7% picked this

    In general, the more famous the pianist, the larger the audiences that he or

    Larger audience size is not the same as greater audience pleasure. The argument is about how much audiences enjoy performances, not how many people attend. A famous pianist could draw a big crowd that does not particularly enjoy the performance. This answer addresses a different relationship.

  4. No Impact4% picked this

    Even the finest concert pianists cannot play consistently well at

    Whether the finest pianists play consistently well does not bear on the relationship between fame and quality. Even if every great pianist has off nights, the question is still whether fame correlates with talent — and this answer does not address that.

  5. Opposite6% picked this

    The very best concert pianists often perform works that are difficult for

    If the very best pianists often perform works that audiences find difficult to appreciate, then audiences would not enjoy the best pianists most — undermining the critic's claim that audience pleasure tracks quality. This pulls the argument the wrong way.

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