Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT5 S1 Q18 Explanation

Mary, a veterinary student, has

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

TopicsPrinciple-Conform

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Stimulus

Mary, a veterinary student, has been assigned an experiment in mammalian physiology that would require her to take a healthy, anesthetized dog and subject it to a drastic blood loss in order to observe the physiological consequences of shock. The dog experiment. Mary decides not to do this assignment.

What this question is testing

Principle-Conform

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
18.

Mary’s decision most closely accords with which one of the

Answer choices

  1. Trap19% picked this

    All other things being equal, gratuitously causing any animal to suffer

  2. Correct38% picked this

    Taking the life of an animal is not justifiable unless doing so would immediately assist in saving several animal lives or in

    Why this is right

    Answer B is correct.

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

  3. Trap3% picked this

    The only sufficient justification for experimenting on animals is that future animal suffering

  4. Trap28% picked this

    Practicing veterinarians have a professional obligation to strive to prevent the unnecessary death of an animal except in cases of severely ill or injured

  5. Trap13% picked this

    No one is ever justified in acting with the sole intention of causing the death of a living thing,

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