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A Publication of the Law School Admission Council, The Producers of the LSAT®

THE OFFICIAL LSAT

PREPTEST

• PrepTest 83 • Form 7LSN126

DECEMBER 2017

®

SECTION I

Time—35 minutes 25 Questions Directions: Each question in this section is based on- the reasoning presented in a brief passage. In answering the questions, you should not make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage. For some questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer; that is, choose the response that most accurately and completely answers the question and mark that response on your answer sheet.

• The mayoral race in Bensburg is a choice between Chu,

a prodevelopment candidate, and Lewis, who favors placing greater limits on development. Prodevelopment candidates have won in the last six mayoral elections.Thus, Chu will probably defeat Lewis.Which one of the following statements, if true, most weakens the argument?(A) Lewis has extensive experience in national politics, but not in city politics.(B) Prodevelopment mayoral candidates in Bensburg generally attract more financial backing for their campaigns.(C) Bensburg is facing serious new problems that most voters attribute to overdevelopment.(D) Lewis once worked as an aide to a prodevelopment mayor of Bensburg.(E) Chu was not thought of as a prodevelopment politician before this election.

2. Rose: Let’s not see the movie Winter Fields. I caught

a review of it in the local paper and it was the worst review I’ve read in years.

Chester: I don’t understand why that might make you

not want to see the movie. And besides, nothing in that paper is particularly well written.Chester’s response suggests that he misinterpreted which one of the following expressions used by Rose?(A) see the movie (B) caught a review (C) local paper (D) worst review (E) in years

3. Enrique: The city’s transit authority does not have

enough money to operate for the next twelve months without cutting service or increasing fares, and the federal government has so far failed to provide additional funding. Nonetheless, the transit authority should continue operating without service cuts or fare increases until it has exhausted its funds. At that point, the federal government will be willing to provide funding to save the authority.

Cynthia: If the transit authority tries that maneuver, the

federal government will probably just let the authority go out of business. The transit authority cannot risk allowing that to happen.The dialogue most strongly supports the claim that Enrique and Cynthia disagree over whether (A) the transit authority should continue operating without cutting service or increasing fares until it has exhausted its funds (B) the federal government should provide additional funding to the transit authority (C) it would be better for the transit authority to cut services than it would be to raise fares (D) the federal government is willing to provide additional funding to the transit authority now (E) the transit authority can afford to operate for the next twelve months without cutting service even if it does not receive additional funding

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• A survey published in a leading medical journal in

the early 1970s found that the more frequently people engaged in aerobic exercise, the lower their risk of lung disease tended to be. Since other surveys have confirmed these results, it must be' the case that aerobic exercise - has a significant beneficial effect on people’s health.The reasoning above is questionable because the argument (A) ignores anecdotal evidence and bases its conclusion entirely on scientific research (B) considers only surveys published in one particular medical journal (C) concludes merely from the fact that two things are correlated that one causes the other (D) presumes, without providing justification,' that anyone who does not have lung disease is in good health (E) fails to consider that even infrequent aerobic exercise may have some beneficial effect on people’s health

• Researchers examined 100 people suffering from

herniated disks in their backs. Five of them were found to have a defect in a particular gene. The researchers also examined 100 people who had no problems with the disks in their backs; none had the genetic defect.They concluded that the genetic defect increases the likelihood of herniated disks.Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the researchers’ reasoning?(A) The researchers also examined a group of 100 people who did not have the defective gene; 80 were found to have herniated disks in their backs.(B) When the researchers examined a group of 100 people with the defective gene, they found that 2 of them had herniated disks in their backs.(C) When the researchers examined the families of the

• subjects who had the defective gene,

they found that 30 family members also had the defective gene, and each of them suffered from herniated disks.(D) Another team of researchers examined a different group of 100 people who suffered from herniated disks, and they found that none of them had the defective gene.(E) When the researchers examined the family of one of the subjects who did not suffer from herniated disks, they found 30 family members who did not have the defective gene, and 20 of them suffered from herniated disks.

• The only vehicles that have high resale values are those

that are well maintained. Thus any well-maintained vehicle has a high resale value.The flawed nature of the argument can most effectively be demonstrated by noting that, by parallel reasoning, we could argue that (A) since none of the plants in this garden have been pruned before, no plant in this garden needs pruning (B) since the best mediators have the longest track records, the worst mediators have the shortest track records (C) since only those who desire to become astronauts actually become astronauts, that desire must be the most important factor involved in determining who will become an astronaut (D) since all city dwellers prefer waterfalls to traffic jams, anyone who prefers waterfalls to traffic jams is a city dweller (E) since one’s need for medical care decreases as one’s health improves, a person who is in an excellent state of health has no need of medical care

7. Rita: No matter how you look at them, your survey

results are misleading. Since people generally lie on such surveys, the numbers you collected are serious underestimates.

Hiro: I have no doubt that people lie on surveys of this

type. The question is whether some people lie more than others. While the raw numbers surely underestimate what I’m trying to measure, the relative rates those numbers represent are probably close to being accurate.Rita and Hiro disagree over whether (A) the survey results are misleading regardless of how they are interpreted (B) people tend to lie on certain kinds of surveys (C) a different type of measure than a survey would produce results that are less misleading (D) the raw numbers collected are serious underestimates (E) the number of people surveyed was adequate for the survey’s purpose

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8. Lopez: Our university is not committed to liberal arts,

as evidenced by its decision to close the classics department. The study of classical antiquity is crucial to the liberal arts, and it has been so since the Renaissance.

Warrington: Although the study of classical works is

essential to the liberal arts, a classics department isn’t, since other departments often engage in that study.Warrington’s argument proceeds by (A) offering additional reasons in favor of the conclusion of Lopez’s argument (B) claiming that the reasoning in Lopez’s argument rests on an illicit appeal to tradition (C) mounting a direct challenge to the conclusion of Lopez’s argument (D) responding to a possible objection to the reasoning in Lopez’s argument (E) presenting a consideration in order to undermine the reasoning in Lopez’s argument

• Ted, a senior employee, believes he is underpaid and

attempts to compensate by routinely keeping short hours, though it is obvious to everyone that he still makes some valuable, unique, and perhaps irreplaceable contributions. Tatiana, Ted’s supervisor, is aware of the deficit in Ted’s performance, and realizes other workers work harder than they should to make up for it.Nevertheless, Tatiana decides that she should not request that Ted be replaced.Which one of the following principles, if valid, would most help to justify Tatiana’s decision?(A) Supervisors should request that an employee be replaced only if they know that all the work done by that employee can be performed equally well by another employee.(B) Employers should compensate all their employees in a way that is adequate in relation to the value of the contributions they make.(C) Only someone with greater authority than a particular employee’s supervisor is entitled to decide whether that employee should be replaced.(D) Workers in a work setting should regard themselves as jointly responsible for the work to be performed.(E) An employee’s contributions in the workplace are not always a function of the amount of time spent on the job.

• One adaptation that enables an animal species to

survive despite predation by other species is effective camouflage. Yet some prey species with few or no other adaptations to counteract predation have endured for a long time with black-and-white coloration that seems unlikely to provide effective camouflage.Which one of the following, if true, most contributes to a resolution of the apparent discrepancy mentioned above?(A) Most species with black-and-white coloration are more populous than the species that prey upon them.(B) No form of camouflage is completely effective against all kinds of predators.(C) Animals of many predatory species do not perceive color or pattern in the same manner as humans do.(D) Conspicuous black-and-white areas help animals of the same species avoid encounters with one another.(E) Black-and-white coloration is not as great a liability against predators at night as it is during the day.

11. Lecturer: If I say, “I tried to get my work done on time,”

the meanings of my words do not indicate that I didn’t get it done on time. But usually you would correctly understand me to be saying that I didn’t.After all, if I had gotten my work done on time, I would instead just say, “I got my work done on time.” And this example is typical of how conversation works.The lecturer’s statements, if true, most strongly support which one of the following statements?(A) Understanding what people say often requires more than just understanding the meanings of the words they use.(B) It is unusual for English words to function in communication in the way that “tried” does.(C) Understanding what people use a word to mean often requires detecting their nonverbal cues.(D) Speakers often convey more information in conversation than they intend to convey.(E) Listeners cannot reasonably be expected to have the knowledge typically required for successful communication.

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