Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT5 S3 Q9 Explanation

The journalistic practice of fabricating

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

TopicsFlaw

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Stimulus

The journalistic practice of fabricating remarks after an interview and printing them within quotation marks, as if they were the interviewee’s own words, has been decried as a form of unfair misrepresentation. However, people’s actual spoken remarks rarely convey their ideas as clearly as does a distillation of those ideas crafted, after words were quoted but their ideas only partially expressed, it is entirely defensible.

What this question is testing

Flaw

Your task

Describe the reasoning error the argument actually commits.

Common trap

Answers that name a real logical flaw the argument doesn't actually make.

Winning move

Articulate the gap in the reasoning yourself, then match it to the choice that describes that 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
9.

Which one of the following is a questionable technique used in

Answer choices

  1. Trap2% picked this

    Answering an exaggerated charge by undermining the personal authority of those who

  2. Trap7% picked this

    Claiming that the prestige of a profession provides ample grounds for dismissing criticisms

  3. Correct64% picked this

    Offering as an adequate defense of a practice an observation that discredits only one of several possible

    Why this is right

    Answer C is correct.

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

  4. Trap12% picked this

    Concluding that a practice is right on the grounds that it

  5. Trap15% picked this

    Using the opponent’s admission that a practice is sometimes appropriate as conclusive proof that that

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