LSAC LSAT-TEST Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

LSAC LSAT-TEST Online Questions & Answers

• Question 161:

  Passage

  The Marshmallow Test for Grownups

  (1)

  Originally conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s, the Stanford marshmallow test has become a touchstone of developmental psychology. Children at Stanford's Bing Nursery School, aged four to six, were placed in a

  room furnished only with a table and chair. A single treat, selected by the child, was placed on the table. Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in

  the room. Follow-up studies with the children later in adolescence showed a correlation between an ability to wait long enough to obtain a second treat and various forms of life success. And a 2011 fMRI study conducted on 59 original

  participants ?now in their 40s ?by Cornell's B.J. Casey showed higher levels of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex among those participants who delayed immediate gratification in favor of a greater reward later on. This finding is important

  because of the research that's emerged on the critical role played by the prefrontal cortex in directing our attention and managing our emotions.

  (2)

  As adults, we face a version of the marshmallow test nearly every waking minute of every day. We're not tempted by sugary treats, but by our browser tabs, phones, and tablets ?all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for

  those blips of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.

  (3)

  Sugary treats tempt us into unhealthy eating habits because the agricultural and commercial systems that meet our nutritional needs today are so vastly different from the environment in which we evolved as a species. Early humans lived in a

  calorie-poor world, and something like a piece of fruit was both rare and valuable. Our brains developed a response mechanism to these treats that reflected their value ?a surge of interest and excitement, a feeling of reward and

  satisfaction ?which we find tremendously pleasurable. But as we've reshaped the world around us, radically diminishing the cost and effort involved in obtaining calories, we still have the same brains we evolved thousands of years ago. This

  mismatch is at the heart of why so many of us struggle to resist tempting foods that we know we shouldn't eat.

  (4)

  A similar process is at work in our response to information. Our formative environment as a species was information-poor as well as calorie-poor. The features of that environment ?specifically the members of our immediate community and

  our interactions with them ?typically changed rarely and gradually. New information in the form of new community members or new ways of interacting were unusual and notable events that typically signified something of great importance.

  Just as our brains developed a response mechanism that prized sugary treats, we evolved to pay close attention to new information about the people around us and our interactions with them. But just as the development of industrial

  agriculture and mass commerce has profoundly altered our caloric environment, global connectivity has profoundly altered our information environment. We are now ceaselessly bombarded with new information about the people around us ?

  and the definition of "people around us" has fundamentally changed, putting us in touch with more people in an hour than early humans met in their entire lives. All of this poses a critical challenge to our brains ?the adult version of the

  marshmallow test.

  (5)

  Not only are we constantly interrupted by alerts, beeps, and buzzes that tell us some new information has arrived, we constantly interrupt ourselves to seek out new information. We pull out our phones while we're in the middle of a

  conversation with someone. We check our email while we're engaged in a complex task that requires our full concentration. We scan our feeds even though we just checked them a minute ago. There's increasing evidence suggesting that

  these disruptions make it difficult to do our best work, diminish our productivity, and contribute to a feeling of overwhelm.

  (6)

  The agricultural and commercial revolutions were clearly net gains for humanity, making it possible for more people to live better lives than ever before. It would be both wrongheaded and fruitless to suggest that we should turn back the clock

  on these advances. Similarly, the information revolution is helping us to make great strides as a species. But just as we need to be more thoughtful about our caloric consumption, delaying gratification of our impulsive urges in order to eat

  more nutritiously, we need to be more thoughtful about our information consumption, resisting the allure of the mental equivalent of "junk food" in order to allocate our time and attention most effectively. (This article has been picked from

  hbr.org and has been edited for use.)

  Which one of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

  A. A study is presented, its results are discussed, an analogy of the study is presented with respect to another age group, a new hypothesis that undermines the study is shown.
  B. A recently observed phenomenon is contrasted with a research study, justifications for the occurrence of the phenomenon are given, recommendations to overcome the inconveniences created by the phenomenon are described.
  C. A study is presented and its results are discussed, its relevance with respect to another age group is discussed, justifications are given for why the extrapolation is plausible.
  D. A research and the assumptions on which it is based are described, a contradicting study is presented, validity of both the studies are questioned.
  E. A research study is presented, conclusions drawn from it are presented, evidence that undermines the validity of the study is described, an evaluation of the evidence is presented.
  C. A study is presented and its results are discussed, its relevance with respect to another age group is discussed, justifications are given for why the extrapolation is plausible.

  ---

  The passage starts off by describing the marshmallow study and its results. It further extends the discussion to how this study could impact adults, the baits being phones and tablets, not candies and marshmallows. Subsequently, gives reasons for why the abundance of information is pernicious to humans, reducing productivity and increasing a feeling of overwhelm. Finally, it concludes by saying that this information revolution and technology is positively contributing to humankind but should be used judiciously.

  Option [A study is presented, its results are discussed, an analogy of...] is incorrect primarily because of the last phrase, which states that 'a new hypothesis that undermines the study is shown.' The passage does not undermine the original marshmallow study.

  Option [A recently observed phenomenon is contrasted with...] is incorrect because the author does not give any recommendations to overcome the inconveniences caused by technology and the copious amounts of information.

  Option [A study is presented and its results are discussed, its relevance with...] is correct. The marshmallow study is presented and its conclusions are stated. Further, the author extrapolates the study to adults. He also gives reasons to support why this extrapolation is fair. Just as children were lured by the treats, so humans are lured by the current technology.

  Option [A research and the assumptions on which...] is incorrect on multiple counts. Firstly, the assumptions of the marshmallow study are not discussed. Further no contradictory study is presented.

  Option [A research study is presented, conclusions drawn from...] is incorrect because evidence to undermine the study are not stated by the author of the passage. Also, there is no evaluation of the evidence.

• Question 162:

  The autobiographical narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1and61), by Harriet A. Jacobs, a stave of African descent, not only recounts an individual life but also provides, implicitly and explicitly, a perspective on the larger United States culture from the viewpoint of one denied access to it. Jacobs, as a woman and a slave, faced the stigmas to which those statuses were subject. Jacobs crafted her narrative, in accordance with the mainstream literary genre of the sentimental domestic novel, as an embodiment of cherished cultural values such as the desirability of marriage and the sanctity of personal identity, home, and family. She did so because she was writing to the free women of her day ?the principal readers of domestic novels ?in the hopes that they would sympathize with and come to understand her unique predicament as a female slave. By applying these conventions of the genre to her situation, Jacobs demonstrates to her readers that family and domesticity are no less prized by those forced into slavery, thus leading her free readers to perceive those values within a broader social context.

  Some critics have argued that, by conforming to convention, Jacobs shortchanged her own experiences; one critic, for example, claims that in Jacobs's work the purposes of the domestic novel overshadow those of the typical slave narrative. But the relationship between the two genres is more complex: Jacobs's attempt to frame her story as a domestic novel creates a tension between the usual portrayal of women in this genre and her actual experience, often calling into question the applicability of the hierarchy of values espoused by the domestic novel to those who are in her situation. Unlike the traditional romantic episodes in domestic novels in which a man and woman meet, fall in love, encounter various obstacles but eventually marry, Jacobs's protagonist must send her lover, a slave, away in order to protect him from the wrath of her jealous master. In addition, by the end of the narrative, Jacobs's protagonist achieves her freedom by escaping to the north, but she does not achieve the domestic novel's ideal of a stable home complete with family, as the price she has had to pay for her freedom is separation from most of her family, including one of her own children. Jacobs points out that, slave women view certain events and actions from a perspective different from that of free women, and that they must make difficult choices that free women need not. Her narrative thus becomes an antidomestic novel, for Jacobs accepts readily the goals of the genre, but demonstrates that its hierarchy of values does not apply when examined from the perspective of a female slave, suggesting thereby that her experience, and that of any female slave, cannot be fully understood without shedding conventional perspectives.

  Which one of the following principles most likely governs the author's evaluation of Jacobs's narrative?

  A. Those autobiographical narratives that capture the mood of a particular period are thereby more valuable.
  B. Those autobiographical narratives that focus on accurately depicting the events in the individual's life are thereby more valuable.
  C. Those autobiographical narratives that force readers to view certain familiar cultural values in a wider context are thereby more valuable.
  D. Those autobiographical narratives that are written from a perspective familiar to the majority of their readers are thereby more valuable,
  E. Those autobiographical narratives that employ the conventions of another literary genre are thereby more valuable.
  C. Those autobiographical narratives that force readers to view certain familiar cultural values in a wider context are thereby more valuable.

  ---

  We could probably deem this a "Logic/Principle" question, but for the fact that "the author's valuation of Jacobs's narrative" is the overall Topic and Scope, and that no other Globals are present. It is more useful to expect an answer that will sum up the author's overall point of view, and option [Those autobiographical narratives that force...] does just that, picking up on the successes of the book. The mood [Those autobiographical narratives that capture...] of Jacobs's period never enters the author's priorities, nor does historical accuracy [Those autobiographical narratives that focus on...], as we saw in [Those autobiographical narratives that employ...] of the previous question. The "perspective...familiar to the majority" in this case would be the domestic novel, but we cannot infer from this passage that the author favors its use by Jacobs because of its familiarity, as option [Those autobiographical narratives that are...] would have it. Option [Those autobiographical narratives that employ...] distorts the terms of the argument; the author is fond of Jacobs' mixing of the domestic and slave-narrative genres, not its mixing of autobiography with some other genre.

• Question 163:

  Only a very small percentage of people from the service professions ever become board members of the 600 largest North American corporations. This shows that people from the service professions are underrepresented in the most important corporate boardrooms in North America.

  Which one of the following points out a flaw committed in the argument?

  A. Six hundred is too small a sample on which to base so sweeping a conclusion about the representation of people from the service professions.
  B. The percentage of people from the service professions who serve on the boards of the 600 largest North American corporations reveals little about the percentage of the members of these boards who are from the service professions.
  C. It is a mistake to take the 600 largest North American corporations to be typical of corporate boardrooms generally.
  D. It is irrelevant to smaller corporations whether the largest corporations in North America would agree to have significant numbers of workers from the service professions on the boards of the largest corporations.
  E. The presence of people from the service professions on a corporate board does not necessarily imply that that corporation will be more socially responsible than it has been in the past
  B. The percentage of people from the service professions who serve on the boards of the 600 largest North American corporations reveals little about the percentage of the members of these boards who are from the service professions.

  ---

  As soon as you see percentages being discussed, you should pay close attention. And since the question stem tells you that there is a flaw in the argument, it's a good bet that the author is going to confuse the numbers in some way. The author concludes that people from the service professions are underrepresented in boardrooms because only a very small percentage of people from the service professions ever become board members of the largest corporations. Well, that doesn't make much sense. There are probably millions of people in any industry you can think of, including the service industry; but there are only a few people (relatively speaking) that are board members of the largest corporations. So by the author's reasoning, virtually every industry would be underrepresented. Therefore, the author's conclusion doesn't logically follow from the evidence. Option [The percentage of people from the service professions] correctly identifies this flaw; it points out that the way you tell whether a group is Underrepresented is to look at the percentage of board members who come from a particular group -- not by looking at what percentage of the group become board members. Once you have identified this fundamental flaw, none of the other answer choices should have distracted you. Note that options [It is a mistake to take the 600 largest...], [It is irrelevant to smaller corporations whether...] and [The presence of people from the service professions on...] have outside the scope elements, namely, corporate boardrooms generally, smaller corporations, and social responsibility.

• Question 164:

  When the goalie has been chosen, the Smalltown Bluebirds hockey team has a starting lineup that is selected from two groups:

  First Group: John, Dexter, Bart, Erwin

  Second Group: Leanne, Roger, George, Marlene, Patricia

  When deciding on the players in the lineup, the coach considers the following requirements:

  Two players are always chosen from the first group, while three are chosen from the second group.

  George will only start if Bart also starts. Dexter and Bart will not start together.

  If George starts, Marlene won't start.

  The 4 fastest players are: John, Bart, George and Patricia 3 of the 4 fastest players will always be chosen.

  If George is in the starting lineup, who must also start?

  A. Marlene or John
  B. Dexter or Leanne
  C. Dexter or John
  D. John or Patricia
  E. Marlene or Roger
  D. John or Patricia

• Question 165:

  In 1975, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government has exclusive rights to any oil and gas resources on the Atlantic Outer Shelf beyond the three-mile limit. Which one of the following must be true in order for this ruling to be logical?

  A. The U.S. Supreme Court has met recently.
  B. The Atlantic Outer Shelf may possibly contain oil and gas resources.
  C. No oil and gas resources exist within the three-mile limit.
  D. In 1977, the Court reversed this ruling.
  E. Oil and gas on the Atlantic Shelf has not been explored for in the past three years.
  B. The Atlantic Outer Shelf may possibly contain oil and gas resources.

  ---

  A ruling on resources must at least presume the possibility that such resources exist; otherwise it is absurd. All other choices are irrelevant to the ruling.

• Question 166:

  Zoos have served both as educational resources and as entertainment. Unfortunately, removing animals from their natural habitats to stock the earliest zoos reduced certain species' populations, endangering their survival. Today most new zoo animals are obtained from captive breeding programs, and many zoos now maintain breeding stocks for continued propagation of various species. This makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild.

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

  A. Zoos have played an essential role in educating the public about endangered species.
  B. Some specimens of endangered species are born and bred in zoos.
  C. No zoos exploit wild animals or endanger the survival of species.
  D. Nearly all of the animals in zoos today were born in captivity.
  E. The main purpose of zoos has shifted from entertainment to education.
  B. Some specimens of endangered species are born and bred in zoos.

  ---

  This is an Inference question. Because the right answer must be supported by statements in the passage, you should avoid answer choices using extreme language. There usually won't be enough information in the passage to support choices that speak in terms of "all" or "every" or "never". Only option [Some specimens of endangered species are...] is supported by the passage, specifically the last two sentences of the paragraph. The stimulus tells us that zoos maintain breeding stocks for continued propagation of various species, and that this makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild. Therefore, you can infer that some (though not all, or even most) specimens of endangered species are born and bred in zoos.

• Question 167:

  Because addictive drugs are physically harmful, their use by athletes is never justified. Purists, however, claim that taking massive doses of even such nonaddictive drugs as aspirin and vitamins before competing should also be prohibited because they are unnatural. This is ridiculous; almost everything in sports is unnatural, from high-tech running shoes to padded boxing gloves to highly-specialized bodybuilding machines. Yet, none of these is prohibited on the basis of its being unnatural. Furthermore, we should be attending to far more serious problems that plague modern sports and result in unnecessary deaths and injuries. Therefore, the use of nonaddictive drugs by athletes should not be prohibited.

  Which one of the following statements, if true, would be the strongest challenge to the author's conclusion?

  A. Massive doses of aspirin and vitamins enhance athletic performance.
  B. Addictive drugs are just as unnatural as nonaddictive drugs like aspirin and vitamins.
  C. Unnecessary deaths and injuries occur in other walks of life besides modern sports.
  D. There would be more unnecessary deaths and injuries if it were not for running shoes, boxing gloves, and bodybuilding machines.
  E. Taking massive doses of aspirin or vitamins can be physically harmful.
  E. Taking massive doses of aspirin or vitamins can be physically harmful.

  ---

  We begin answering a Weaken question by figuring out the components of the argument. The conclusion is that the use of nonaddictive drugs such as aspirins and vitamins should not be prohibited. Why? Because nonaddictive drugs are just as unnatural as sporting equipment, and people have no objection to sporting equipment. Furthermore, there are more serious problems than nonaddictive drugs in modern sports that should be addressed -- problems leading to injury and death. One way to weaken the argument is to connect the factor that the author's not concerned about with the one he is: The correct answer will tend to connect nonaddictive drugs in some way to harm. Perhaps you prephrased a weakener along these lines, or if not, hopefully you saw the devastating effect that E., if true, would have on the argument. If the use of nonaddictive drugs by athletes caused injury or death, then nonaddictive drug use would fall squarely into the category of the author's "more serious problems," and the argument to not prohibit such drugs would be weakened.

• Question 168:

  For some years before the outbreak of World War I, a number of painters in different European countries developed works of art that some have described as prophetic: paintings that by challenging viewers' habitual ways of perceiving the world of the present are thus said to anticipate a future world that would be very different. The artistic styles that they brought into being varied widely, but all these styles had in common a very important break with traditions of representational art that stretched back to the Renaissance.

  So fundamental is this break with tradition that it is not surprising to discover that these artists ?among them Picasso and Braque in France, Kandinsky in Germany, and Malevich in Russia ?are often credited with having anticipated not just subsequent developments in the arts, but also the political and social disruptions and upheavals of the modern world that came into being during and after the war. One art critic even goes so far as to claim that it is the very prophetic power of these artworks, and not their break with traditional artistic techniques, that constitutes their chief interest and value.

  No one will deny that an artist may, just as much as a writer or a politician, speculate about the future and then try to express a vision of that future through making use of a particular style or choice of imagery; speculation about the possibility of war in Europe was certainly widespread during the early years of the twentieth century. But the forward-looking quality attributed to these artists should instead be credited to their exceptional aesthetic innovations rather than to any power to make clever guesses about political or social trends. For example, the clear impression we get of Picasso and Braque, the joint founders of cubism, from their contemporaries as well as from later statements made by the artists themselves, is that they were primarily concerned with problems of representation and form and with efforts to create a far more "real" reality than the one that was accessible only to the eye. The reformation of society was of no interest to them as artists.

  It is also important to remember that not all decisive changes in art are quickly followed by dramatic events in the world outside art. The case of Delacroix, the nineteenth-century French painter, is revealing. His stylistic innovations startled his contemporaries ?and still retain that power over modern viewers ?but most art historians have decided that Delacroix adjusted himself to new social conditions that were already coming into being as a result of political upheavals that had occurred in 1830, as opposed to other artists who supposedly told of changes still to come.

  According to the author, the work of the pre-World War I painters described in the passage contains an example of each of the following EXCEPT:

  A. an interest in issues of representation and form
  B. a stylistic break with traditional art
  C. the introduction of new artistic techniques
  D. the ability to anticipate later artists
  E. the power to predict social changes
  E. the power to predict social changes

  ---

  This all/EXCEPT question appears detailed but in a sense is a Global question in disguise of all the activities and achievements that the author credits to the prewar artists, his Main Idea is that one item does not belong among them: the conscious prediction of future political and social upheavals. Other artists have (and use) the power that option [the power to predict...] describes, but Picasso and the others were not among them.

• Question 169:

  Seven friends, Abe, Bob, Chad, Dolly, Elisa, Frank, and Gregory sit in a VIP enclosure of a stadium to watch a football match. The seats in the enclosure form a 3 x 3 matrix, i.e. 3 rows (front, middle and last) with 3 seats in each row. The following information is known: Chad sits immediately beside Dolly Dolly sits in a row immediately behind the row in which Abe is sitting There is no one sitting on one side of Chad None of Elisa or Gregory sits immediately beside Abe Bob sits in the last row

  Who sits in the middle seat of the middle row?

  A. Chad
  B. Dolly
  C. Either Chad or Dolly
  D. Any among Chad, Dolly or Elisa
  E. The seat is vacant
  A. Chad

  ---

  From the figure below, it is definite that the person must be C.

  

  General Let us name the people Abe, Bob, Chad, Dolly, Elisa, Frank, and Gregory as A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, respectively. We can see that there are 3 ?3 = 9 seats, but there are only 7 people. Thus, the only possible way of distributing the 7 people across the 3 rows is that 2 rows would have 2 members each and one row would have 3 members. However, the exact number of people in a particular row is not yet known and further analysis of the statements needs to be done.

  1st statement: C and D sit beside each other ... (i)

  3rd statement: The row in which C and D are sitting, has exactly 2 people sitting in it (since there is no one sitting on the other side of C) ... (ii)

  2nd statement: Since D sits in the row just behind A's row, the row where D (and C) sits must be either the middle or the last row

  5th statement: Since B sits in the last row and the row where C and D sits has only 2 people, C and D must be in the middle row ... (iii) Thus, it also follows that A must be in the front row ... (iv)

  4th statement: We know that neither E nor G sits beside A. Thus, there are 2 possible scenarios:

  If A is in the middle of the front row, none of E or G can sit in the front row; thus, they would sit in the last row ... (v)

  If A is at either end of the front row, only in that scenario can one of E or G also sits in the front row ... (vi)

  Thus, we have:

  

  Also, in the middle row, since C has D on one side and a vacant seat on the other, C must be in the middle position. Thus, we finally have:

  

  This is all that can be deduced from the main stem.

  To answer the questions, we need to use the additional information contained in each question.

• Question 170:

  Town councillor: The only reason for the town to have ordinances restricting where skateboarding can be done would be to protect children from danger. Skateboarding in the town's River Park is undoubtedly dangerous, but we should not pass an ordinance prohibiting it. If children cannot skateboard in the park, they will most certainly skateboard in the streets. And skateboarding in the streets is more dangerous than skateboarding in the park.

  The pattern of reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to that in the town councilor's argument

  A. The reason for requiring environmental reviews is to ensure that projected developments do not harm the natural environment. Currently, environmental concerns are less compelling than economic concerns, but in the long run, the environment must be protected. Therefore, the requirement for environmental reviews should not be waived.
  B. Insecticides are designed to protect crops against insect damage. Aphids damage tomato crops, but using insecticides against aphids kills wasps that prey on insecticide-resistant pests. Since aphids damage tomato crops less than the insecticide-resistant pests do, insecticides should not be used against aphids on tomato crops.
  C. The purpose of compulsory vaccination for schoolchildren was to protect both the children themselves and others in the community against smallpox. Smallpox was indeed a dreadful disease, but it has now been eliminated from the world's population. So children should not be vaccinated against it.
  D. The function of a sealer on wood siding is to retard deterioration caused by weather. However, cedar is a wood that is naturally resistant to weather-related damage and thus does not need additional protection. Sealers, therefore, should not be applied to cedar siding.
  E. Traffic patterns that involve one-way streets are meant to accelerate the flow of traffic in otherwise congested areas. However, it would be detrimental to the South Main Street area to have traffic move faster. So traffic patterns involving one-way streets should not be implemented there.
  B. Insecticides are designed to protect crops against insect damage. Aphids damage tomato crops, but using insecticides against aphids kills wasps that prey on insecticide-resistant pests. Since aphids damage tomato crops less than the insecticide-resistant pests do, insecticides should not be used against aphids on tomato crops.

  ---

  The Training Method of comparing conclusions doesn't allow us to eliminate any choices, as the conclusion of the original and all five choices take the form of a recommendation of what should not be done. So we need to look further. We're told that skateboarding in the park is dangerous, and if children can't skateboard there, then they'll skateboard on the streets, which is more dangerous. Since the reason to pass an ordinance restricting where children skateboard is to protect them from danger, the councillor believes they shouldn't pass an ordinance prohibiting skateboarding in the park. That logic is certainly ripe for a general paraphrase: Something is bad, but we shouldn't apply a specific remedy because that will cause a situation that's worse. Option [Insecticides are designed to protect crops...] hits the nail on the head. Insecticides can protect tomato crops against aphids, but using it will make matters worse (the key concept not found in the other choices) by killing wasps, which themselves kill pests that the insecticides don't. Since in this particular case it would be safer not to use insecticides (not to pass the ordinance), it shouldn't be used (shouldn't be passed). A perfect match.