LSAT Diagnostic Questions

Doctor: It would benefit public health if junk food were taxed. Not only in this country but in many other countries as well, the excessive proportion of junk food in people's diets contributes to many common and serious health problems. If junk food were much more expensive than healthful food, people would be encouraged to make dietary changes that would reduce these problems.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn in the doctor's argument?

Some people believe that advertising is socially pernicious- it changes consumers' preferences, thereby manipulating people into wanting things they would not otherwise want. However, classes in music and art appreciation change people's preferences for various forms of art and music, and there is nothing wrong with these classes. Therefore, _________________

Professor: A guest speaker recently delivered a talk entitled “The Functions of Democratic Governments” to a Political Ideologies class at this university. The talk was carefully researched and theoretical in nature. But two students who disagreed with the theory hurled vicious taunts at the speaker. Several others applauded their attempt to humiliate the speaker. This incident shows that universities these days do not foster fair-minded and tolerant intellectual debate.

The professor’s reasoning is flawed in that it

Essayist: If Earth's population continues to grow geometrically, then in a few centuries there will be ten people for every square meter (approximately one person per square foot) of Earth's surface. Some people have claimed that this will probably not be a problem, since humans will have learned by then how to colonize other planets. This would, however, be a temporary solution at best: if the population continues to double every 30 years, and if in the year 2500 half of Earth's population emigrated to Mars, then by the year 2530 Earth would be just as crowded as it had been before the emigration.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn in the essayist's argument?

Contrary to recent speculations, no hardware store will be opening in the shopping plaza. If somebody were going to open a store there, they would already have started publicizing it. But there has been no such publicity.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn in the argument?

Some heartburn-medication advertisements imply that unrelieved heartburn is likely to cause esophageal cancer. This is simply false. The fact is that only about 5 percent of people with severe heartburn have a condition called Barrett's esophagus, in which cells similar to those in the stomach's lining develop in the lower esophagus. Only these people have an increased risk of developing cancer because of heartburn.

"Which one of the following most accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the argument?"

All people prefer colors that they can distinguish easily to colors that they have difficulty distinguishing. Infants can easily distinguish bright colors but, unlike adults, have difficulty distinguishing subtle shades. A brightly colored toy for infants sells better than the same toy in subtle shades at the same price.

Which one of the following conclusions is most strongly supported by the information in the passage?

Depression is a serious problem for residents of nursing homes.

However, a recent study has found that residents who developed personal bonds with pets had significantly lower rates of depression than did residents who did not develop personal bonds with pets.

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

Advertisement: GreenBank gives all of its customers unlimited free automatic teller machine (ATM) use. TekBank charges 25 cents for each ATM transaction. So, clearly, it costs more to bank at TekBank than at GreenBank.

The reasoning in the advertisement's argument is misleading in that the argument:

Double-blind techniques should be used whenever possible in scientific experiments. They help prevent the misinterpretations that often arise due to expectations and opinions that scientists already hold, and clearly scientists should be extremely diligent in trying to avoid such misinterpretations.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the argument?