Logical Reasoning

PT6 · S3 · Q25 Proposals for extending the United

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

  • 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

Start practicing free

Proposals for extending the United States school year to bring it more in line with its European and Japanese counterparts are often met with the objection that curtailing the schools’ three-month summer vacation would violate an established United States tradition dating from the nineteenth century.

Opposing Point

People object to extending the school year because the three-month summer vacation is a U.S. tradition dating from the nineteenth century.

Author's Setup

True, schools closed for three months in the nineteenth century, but only because rural harvests depended on children's labor.

Conclusion

If any policy could be justified by appeals to tradition, it would be the policy of determining the school year length according to the needs of the economy (since that is what the original tradition actually reflects).

Evaluate

The author is identifying the real tradition by looking at the original reasons. The "three-month summer break" looks like the tradition, but the author argues the actual tradition is the underlying principle: matching the school year to economic needs. The bridge: traditions are properly identified by their original purposes, not by their surface form.

Goal

Find the principle that lets us read traditions through their original reasons rather than their surface practices.

25.

Which one of the following principles, if accepted, would provide the strongest justification for the conclusion?

  1. That a given social policy

    Bad Description

    This addresses when traditions can be maintained versus overridden, not how to identify what a tradition really is. The author's argument is not about whether to keep or override tradition — it is about which tradition the appeal actually supports. This principle does not bridge the author's move from surface practice to underlying purpose.

    8% picked this

  2. Appeals to its own traditions

    Out of Scope

    This says traditions cannot excuse a country from international expectations. The author's argument is not about international comparisons or obligations — it is about correctly identifying the tradition embedded in a domestic practice. This principle is on a different topic.

    6% picked this

  3. Because appeals to tradition often

    Bad Description

    This says appeals to tradition should be disregarded entirely. But the author does not disregard the appeal — the author uses it, just relocated to the underlying principle (matching school to economic needs). The author's conclusion explicitly invokes tradition as a justification, not dismisses it.

    3% picked this

  4. Traditional principles should be discarded

    Bad Description

    This says traditions should be discarded when they no longer serve economic needs. The author is not arguing for discarding tradition — the author is arguing the tradition itself, properly understood, supports adjustment to economic needs. This principle would let us throw out tradition, not preserve a deeper version of it.

    32% picked this

  5. Correct

    The actual tradition embodied in

    Why this is right

    This is the principle the author needs. The author argues the actual tradition is not "three months off in summer" but "school year matches economic needs" — a claim made by looking at the original reasons (children's labor for harvests). That move requires the principle that traditions are accurately identified by reference to their original prompting reasons. With this principle in place, the author's reframe of the tradition is justified.

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

    51% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
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