Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT8 S1 Q23 Explanation

Mayor Smith, one of our few

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

TopicsFlaw

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Stimulus

Mayor Smith, one of our few government officials with a record of outspoken, informed, and consistent opposition to nuclear power plant construction projects, has now declared herself in favor of building the nuclear power plant at Littletown. If someone with her past antinuclear record now favors building this power it will be safe and therefore should be built.

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
23.

The argument is vulnerable to criticism on which one of the

Answer choices

  1. Trap3% picked this

    It overlooks the possibility that not all those who fail to speak out on issues of nuclear power

  2. Trap6% picked this

    It assumes without warrant that the qualities enabling a person to be elected to public office confer on that person a grasp of the

  3. Trap10% picked this

    It fails to establish that a consistent and outspoken opposition is necessarily

  4. Trap14% picked this

    It leads to the further but unacceptable conclusion that any project favored by Mayor Smith should be sanctioned simply on the basis of her

  5. Correct67% picked this

    It gives no indication of either the basis of Mayor Smith’s former opposition to nuclear power plant construction or the reasons for

    Why this is right

    Answer E is correct.

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

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