LSAC LSAT-TEST Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

LSAC LSAT-TEST Online Questions & Answers

• Question 331:

  Five racing drivers, Alan, Bob, Chris, Don, and Eugene, enter into a contest that consists of 6 races. The results of all six races are listed below: Bob always finishes ahead of Chris. Alan finishes either first or last. Eugene finishes either first

  or last. There are no ties in any race.

  Every driver finishes each race. In each race, two points are awarded for a fifth place finish, four points for fourth, six points for third, eight points for second, and ten points for first.

  If Frank enters the third race and finishes behind Chris and Don, which of the following must be true of that race?

  A. Eugene finishes first.
  B. Alan finishes sixth.
  C. Don finishes second.
  D. Frank finishes fifth.
  E. Chris finishes third.
  D. Frank finishes fifth.

  ---

  If Frank finishes behind both Chris and Don, he also finishes behind Bob and whoever finishes first. Therefore, Frank finishes ahead of only one car.

• Question 332:

  When investigators discovered that the director of a local charity had repeatedly overstated the number of people his charity had helped, the director accepted responsibility for the deception. However, the investigators claimed that journalists were as much to blame as the director was for inflating the charity's reputation, since they had naively accepted what the director told them, and simply reported as fact the numbers he gave them.

  Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the investigators' claim?

  A. Anyone who works for a charitable organization is obliged to be completely honest about the activities of that organization.
  B. Anyone who knowingly aids a liar by trying to conceal the truth from others is also a liar.
  C. Anyone who presents as factual a story that turns out to be untrue without first attempting to verify that story is no less responsible for the consequences of that story than anyone else is.
  D. Anyone who lies in order to advance his or her own career is more deserving of blame than someone who lies in order to promote a good cause.
  E. Anyone who accepts responsibility for a wrongful act that he or she committed is less deserving of blame than someone who tries to conceal his or her own wrongdoing.
  C. Anyone who presents as factual a story that turns out to be untrue without first attempting to verify that story is no less responsible for the consequences of that story than anyone else is.

  ---

  The director of the charity repeatedly lied about the number of people helped by the charity, but when confronted by the investigators, accepted responsibility for the deception. But the investigators oddly blame the journalists as much as the

  director for misrepresenting the charity's beneficence, because they unquestioningly printed the numbers they were told.

  The journalists didn't fabricate the story -- they merely printed the numbers they were given. It seems that the investigators believe that printing erroneous information without checking it is on a par with making up that info in the first place.

  The principle in option [Anyone who presents as factual a story that...] embodies that notion, and thus supports the investigators' claim. The description in the first part of the choice clearly applies to the journalists; the phrase "no less

  responsible" in the middle matches up perfectly with "as much to blame as..."; and "than anyone else" clearly includes the director. Option [Anyone who presents as factual a story that...] hits on all cylinders, while the other choices stray from

  or distort the scope of the situation.

• Question 333:

  Sheila: It has been argued that using computer technology to add color to a movie originally filmed in black and white damages the integrity of the original film. But no one argues that we should not base a movie on a novel or a short story because doing so would erode the value of the book or story. The film adaptation of the written work is a new work that stands on its own. Judgments of it do not reflect on the original. Similarly, the colorized film is a new work distinct from the original and should be judged on its own merit. It does not damage the integrity of the original black-and-white film.

  Sheila's argument uses which one of the following techniques of argumentation?

  A. It appeals to an analogy between similar cases.
  B. It offers a counterexample to a general principle.
  C. It appeals to popular opinion on the matter at issue.
  D. It distinguishes facts from value judgments.
  E. It draws an inference from a general principle and a set of facts.
  A. It appeals to an analogy between similar cases.

  ---

  "Similarly" hands you this one on a platter. Sheila's support for movie colorization rests on the analogy she perceives between movies and prose. Works in each medium, she argues, should be considered unique unto themselves, and not as assaults on the integrity of any source material. Sheila's example is a parallel one, not a piece of counter evidence [It offers a counterexample to...] Popular opinion as to colorization option [It appeals to popular opinion on...] goes unmentioned. Sheila offers nothing but value judgments, so she is not presenting a set of facts [It draws an inference from a...] nor can she possibly be making a distinction between value judgments and facts [It distinguishes facts from...]. Another problem with E. is that the general principle to which it alludes -- namely, that works of art are distinct entities -- is never stated but rather is inferable (by us) from Sheila's two analogous cases.

• Question 334:

  Always read the meter dials from the right to the left. This procedure is much easier, especially if any of the dial hands are near the zero mark. If the meter has two dials, and one is smaller than the other, it is not imperative to read the smaller dial since it only registers a small amount. Read the dial at the right first. As the dial turns clockwise, always record the figure the pointer has just passed. Read the next dial to the left and record the figure it has just passed. Continue recording the figures on the dials from right to left. When finished, mark off the number of units recorded. Dials on water and gas meters usually indicate the amount each dial records.

  As you read the first dial, record the figures

  A. on the smaller dial
  B. the pointer is approaching
  C. the pointer has just passed
  D. at the top
  E. at the bottom
  C. the pointer has just passed

• Question 335:

  Ashley: Words like "of" and "upon," unlike "pencil" and "shirt," do not refer to anything. Joshua: I agree; and since such words are meaningless, they should be abandoned.

  Joshua's remarks indicate that he interpreted Ashley's statement to imply that

  A. only words that refer to something have meaning
  B. words that are not useful are meaningless
  C. words that refer to something are meaningful
  D. if a word is not useful, it should be abandoned
  E. all words that refer to something are useful
  A. only words that refer to something have meaning

  ---

  Here's a question type that used to be more common on the test, the old "crossed-wires" example. One person speaks, the second responds based on a misunderstanding of what was said, and we're asked to figure out what he was thinking in order to respond the way he did. So, how does Joshua interpret Ashley's statement? As far as scope shifts go, this one is pretty blatant: Ashley says that the words "of" and "upon" don't refer to anything. Joshua agrees, and says that because such words are meaningless, they should be abandoned. The logic of Joshua's response clearly relies on the notion that if a word does not refer to anything, then it's meaningless. That's his interpretation of Ashley's comment (although it's not what she actually said). That could be the answer, but evidently the test makers found that to be too easy, so instead they went with the contrapositive: "If a word has meaning, then it refers to something." Option [only words that refer to something have meaning] is the equivalent of this in "only" form.

• Question 336:

  There is no genuinely altruistic behavior. Everyone needs to have a sufficient amount of self-esteem, which crucially depends on believing oneself to be useful and needed. Behavior that appears to be altruistic can be understood as being motivated by the desire to reinforce that belief, a clearly self-interested motivation.

  A flaw in the argument is that it

  A. presupposes that anyone who is acting out of self-interest is being altruistic
  B. illicitly infers that behavior is altruistic merely because it seems altruistic
  C. fails to consider that self-esteem also depends on maintaining an awareness of one's own value
  D. presumes, without providing justification, that if one does not hold oneself in sufficient self-esteem one cannot be useful or needed
  E. takes for granted that any behavior that can be interpreted as self-interested is in fact self-interested
  E. takes for granted that any behavior that can be interpreted as self-interested is in fact self-interested

  ---

  Another chance to debunk an argument, and this one starts out with a categorical assertion that genuine altruistic behavior is a hoax. The evidence is that everyone needs self-esteem, and that requires the belief that one is useful and needed. What appears to be altruistic behavior, therefore, can be understood to be motivated by people's selfish desire to see themselves as useful. A bit convoluted, eh? This is not an easy flaw to prephrase, but it turns out that the problem lies in the phrase "can be understood as being motivated..." The author doesn't actually say that selfish motivations definitely underlie altruistic behavior; he says that the altruistic behaviors can be understood to be based on selfish motivations. That's a subtle but crucial difference. E. picks up on this notion, pointing out that the author assumes that just because one can understand ("interpret") altruistic acts in a certain way (as "self-interested"), they actually are that way. Not one of the more obvious flaws, but 1) it works, and 2) the rest don't.

• Question 337:

  Charles A. Lindbergh is remembered as the first person to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, in 1927. This feat, when Lindbergh was only twenty-five years old, assured him a lifetime of fame and public attention. Charles Augustus Lindbergh was more interested in flying airplanes than he was in studying. He dropped out of the University of Wisconsin after two years to earn a living performing daredevil airplane stunts at country fairs. Two years later, he joined the United States Army so that he could go to the Army Air Service flight-training school. After completing his training, he was hired to fly mail between St. Louis and Chicago. Then came the historic flight across the Atlantic. In 1919, a New York City hotel owner offered a prize of $25,000 to the first pilot to fly nonstop from New York to Paris. Nine St. Louis business leaders helped pay for the plane Lindbergh designed especially for the flight. Lindbergh tested the plane by flying it from San Diego to New York, with an overnight stop in St. Louis. The flight took only 20 hours and 21 minutes, a transcontinental record. Nine days later, on May 20, 1927, Lindbergh took off from Long Island, New York, at 7:52 A. M. He landed at Paris on May 21 at 10:21 P. M. He had flown more than 3,600 miles in less than thirty-four hours. His flight made news around the world. He was given awards and parades everywhere he went. He was presented with the U. S. Congressional Medal of Honor and the first Distinguished Flying Cross. For a long time, Lindbergh toured the world as a U. S. goodwill ambassador. He met his future wife, Anne Morrow, in Mexico, where her father was the United States ambassador.

  During the 1930s, Charles and Anne Lindbergh worked for various airline companies, charting new commercial air routes. In 1931, for a major airline, they charted a new route from the east coast of the United States to the Orient. The shortest, most efficient route was a great curve across Canada, over Alaska, and down to China and Japan. Most pilots familiar with the Arctic did not believe that such a route was possible. The Lindberghs took on the task of proving that it was. They arranged for fuel and supplies to be set out along the route. On July 29, they took off from Long Island in a specially equipped small seaplane. They flew by day and each night landed on a lake or a river and camped. Near Nome, Alaska, they had their first serious emergency. Out of daylight and nearly out of fuel, they were forced down in a small ocean inlet. In the next morning's light, they discovered they had landed on barely three feet of water. On September 19, after two more emergency landings and numerous close calls, they landed in China with the maps for a safe airline passenger route.

  Even while actively engaged as a pioneering flier, Lindbergh was also working as an engineer. In 1935, he and Dr. Alexis Carrel were given a patent for an artificial heart. During World War I in the 1940s, Lindbergh served as a civilian technical advisor in aviation. Although he was a civilian, he flew over fifty combat missions in the Pacific. In the 1950s, Lindbergh helped design the famous 747 jet airliner. In the late 1960s, he spoke widely on conservation issues. He died August 1974, having lived through aviation history from the time of the first powered flight to the first steps on the moon and having influenced a big part of that history himself.

  What did Lindbergh do before he crossed the Atlantic?

  A. He charted a route to China.
  B. He graduated from flight-training school.
  C. He married Anne Morrow.
  D. He acted as a technical advisor during World War II.
  E. He was responsible for the fuel supply for planes.
  B. He graduated from flight-training school.

• Question 338:

  A new bank has decided to stay open only on weekends - all day Saturday and Sunday - and no other days. The bank has hired two managers (U and V), Four tellers (W,X,Y, and Z), and two operation officers (S and T), for a total of exactly

  eight full-time employees.

  No part-time employees are hired.

  Each employee works a complete day when working.

  A manager must be on duty each day.

  The managers cannot work on the same day.

  At least two tellers must be working on the same day.

  W and X will not work on the same day.

  S and Z will only work on Saturday.

  No employee can work on consecutive days, but each employee must work on Saturday or Sunday.

  Which of the following could be false?

  A. If U works on Saturday, then V works on Sunday.
  B. If X works on Saturday, then W works on Sunday.
  C. T can work either day.
  D. If W works on Saturday and Y works on Sunday, then X works on Sunday.
  E. If U works on Sunday, then X works on Saturday.
  E. If U works on Sunday, then X works on Saturday.

  ---

  From the original information, a manager must be on duty each day and the managers cannot work on the same day. Therefore, option [If U works on Saturday, then V works on Sunday.] must be true. Option [If U works on Sunday, then X works on Saturday.] does not have to be true, since U's schedule has no bearing on X's schedule. Since W and X will not work on the same day, Option [If X works on Saturday, then W works on Sunday.] must also be true. There is no restriction placed on T.

• Question 339:

  People who are good at playing the game Drackedary are invariably skilled with their hands. Mary is a very competent watchmaker. Therefore, Mary would make a good Drackedary player.

  The flawed pattern of reasoning in the argument above is most similar to that in which one of the following?

  A. People with long legs make good runners. Everyone in Daryl's family has long legs. Therefore, Daryl would make a good runner.
  B. People who write for a living invariably enjoy reading. Julie has been a published novelist for many years. Therefore, Julie enjoys reading.
  C. All race car drivers have good reflexes. Chris is a champion table tennis player. Therefore, Chris would make a good race car driver.
  D. The role of Santa Claus in a shopping mall is often played by an experienced actor. Erwin has played Santa Claus in shopping malls for years. Therefore, Erwin must be an experienced actor.
  E. Any good skier can learn to ice-skate eventually. Erica is a world-class skier. Therefore, Erica could learn to ice-skate in a day or two.
  C. All race car drivers have good reflexes. Chris is a champion table tennis player. Therefore, Chris would make a good race car driver.

  ---

  The stimulus conclusion "X would make a good Y" is only paralleled by options [People with long legs make good...] and [All race car drivers have good reflexes...]: the conclusions in [People who write for a living invariably] and [The role of Santa Claus in...] are flat-out assertions of fact, and option [Any good skier can learn to...] is is a vague speculation. Only [All race car drivers have good reflexes...] parallels the structure that we can express algebraically as: All X are Y. A particular individual is Z; therefore, that individual would make a good Y.

• Question 340:

  In a class, six lectures are scheduled in a day on six different subjects ?Physics, Chemistry, History, Language, Mathematics and Geography, not necessarily in this order. The following information is known regarding the schedule: The lecture on Chemistry is scheduled after the lecture on History The lecture on Geography is scheduled after the lecture on Language The lecture on Language is scheduled three slots after the lecture on Physics The lecture on History is either scheduled on the first or the third slot

  If the lecture on History is scheduled on the first slot, which lecture must be the last in schedule?

  A. Geography
  B. Physics
  C. Chemistry
  D. Mathematics
  E. Language
  A. Geography

  ---

  Since H is in the 1st slot, we have from Case I:

  

  General

  Let us denote the six slots using the numbers 1 through 6 as shown below:

  

  We need to fill in the names of the subjects in each slot depending on the information provided.

  Let us name the subjects Physics, Chemistry, History, Language, Mathematics and Geography as P, C, H, L, M and G.

  Let us look at the information given in the question stem:

  1.

  The lecture on Chemistry is scheduled after the lecture on History:

  The "..." above implies that there could be none or at least 1 subject between H and C.

  2.

  The lecture on Geography is scheduled after the lecture on Language:

  3.

  The lecture on Language is scheduled three slots after the lecture on Physics:

  Thus, from '2' and '3' above:

  4.

  The lecture on History is either scheduled on the first or the third slot:

  

  

  

  

  

  Let us look at possible scenarios from the above conditions: Case I: H is in the 1st slot:

  

  Note: If H is 1st, then P must come 2nd and L must be after two slots, i.e., at slot 5th, else G cannot be accommodated after L.

  Case II: H is in the 3rd slot: Scenario A: P is in the 1st slot:

  

  Note: C and G must follow H and L respectively, so these can be in the 5th or 6th slots. Thus, M must be in the 2nd slot. Scenario B: P is in the 2nd slot:

  

  Note: If P is 2nd, L must be 5th; hence, G must be 6th. Also, since C comes after H, C must be 4th; hence, M must be 1st.

  Thus, we have listed all the possible scenarios above.