Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT159 S3 Q1 ExplanationCritic: While the political message in this short

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

TopicsPrinciple-Strengthen

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Stimulus

Critic: While the political message in this short story is interesting enough that the author could have based an essay, or a different short story, around that message alone, it should not have been included in this story. The political message distracts from the story’s humorous effect.

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
1.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most strongly supports the

Answer choices, explained

  1. Trap2% picked this

    Authors should not convey political messages in their

  2. Correct93% picked this

    Nothing in a short story should distract from the story's

    Why this is right

    Answer B is correct.

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

  3. Trap1% picked this

    Writers should not risk alienating readers who disagree with

  4. Trap2% picked this

    Political messages need to be developed differently in essays than in

  5. Trap3% picked this

    A short story's political message is irrelevant to its

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