VBI Final LSAT

1.

1 point

Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper pulp if the paper made from the pulp is to look white. Without such filler, paper products look grayish. To make writing paper that looks white from recycled paper requires more filler than is required to make such paper from other sources. Therefore, barring the more efficient use of fillers in paper manufacturing or the development of paper-whitening technologies that do not require mineral fillers, if writing paper made from recycled paper comes to replace other types of writing paper, paper manufacturers will have to use more filler than they now use.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Beyond a certain limit, increasing the amount of filler added to paper pulp does not increase the whiteness of the paper made from the pulp.

The total amount of writing paper manufactured worldwide will increase significantly in the future.

Certain kinds of paper cannot be manufactured from recycled paper.

The fillers that are used to make paper white are harmful to the environment.

Grayish writing paper will not be a universally acceptable alternative to white writing paper.

2.

1 point

Ethicist: Although science is frequently said to be morally neutral, it has a traditional value system of its own. For example, scientists sometimes foresee that a line of theoretical research they are pursuing will yield applications that could seriously harm people, animals, or the environment. Yet, according to science’s traditional value system, such consequences do not have to be considered in deciding whether to pursue that research. Ordinary morality, in contrast, requires that we take the foreseeable consequences of our actions into account whenever we are deciding what to do.

The ethicist’s statements, if true, most strongly support which one of the following?

The uses and effects of scientifically acquired knowledge can never be adequately foreseen.

It is possible for scientists to both adhere to the traditional values of their field and violate a principle of ordinary morality.

According to the dictates of ordinary morality, scientists doing research that ultimately turns out to yield harmful applications are acting immorally.

Science is morally neutral because it assigns no value to the consequences of theoretical research.

Scientists should not be held responsible for the consequences of their research

3.

1 point

Humans are supposedly rational: in other words, they have a capacity for well-considered thinking and behavior. This is supposedly the difference that makes them superior to other animals. But humans knowingly pollute the world’s precious air and water and, through bad farming practices, deplete the soil that feeds them. Thus, humans are not rational after all, so it is absurd to regard them as superior to other animals.

The reasoning above is flawed in that it

presumes, without offering justification, that humans are no worse than other animals

neglects to show that the irrational acts perpetrated by humans are not also perpetrated by other animals

fails to recognize that humans may possess a capacity without displaying it in a given activity

relies crucially on an internally contradictory definition of rationality

takes for granted that humans are aware that their acts are irrational

4.

1 point

“Good hunter” and “bad hunter” are standard terms in the study of cats. Good hunters can kill prey that weigh up to half their body weight. All good hunters have a high muscle-to-fat ratio. Most wild cats are good hunters, but some domestic cats are good hunters as well.

If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?

All cats that have a high muscle-to-fat ratio can kill prey that weigh up to half their body weight.

A smaller number of domestic cats than wild cats have a high muscle-to-fat ratio.

Some cats that have a high muscle-to-fat ratio are domestic.

Some cats that have a high muscle-to-fat ratio are not good hunters.

All cats that are bad hunters have a low muscle-to-fat ratio.

5.

1 point

Ethicist: The penalties for drunk driving are far more severe when the drunk driver accidentally injures people than when no one is injured. Moral responsibility for an action depends solely on the intentions underlying the action and not on the action’s results. Therefore, legal responsibility, depending as it does in at least some cases on factors other than the agent’s intentions, is different than moral responsibility.

The claim that the penalties for drunk driving are far more severe when the drunk driver accidentally injures people than when no one is injured plays which one of the following roles in the ethicist’s argument?

It is a premise offered in support of the claim that legal responsibility for an action is based solely upon features of the action that are generally unintended by the agent.

It is offered as an illustration of the claim that people may be held morally responsible for an action for which they are not legally responsible.

It is a premise offered in support of the claim that legal responsibility depends in at least some cases on factors other than the agent’s intentions.

It is a premise offered in support of the claim that moral responsibility depends solely on the intentions underlying the action and not on the action’s result.

It is offered as an illustration of the claim that the criteria of legal responsibility for an action include but are not the same as those for moral responsibility.

6.

1 point

The coach of the Eagles used a computer analysis to determine the best combinations of players for games. The analysis revealed that the team has lost only when Jennifer was not playing. Although no computer was needed to discover this information, this sort of information is valuable, and in this case it confirms that Jennifer’s presence in the game will ensure that the Eagles will win.

The argument above is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

draws conclusions about applications of computer analyses to sports from the evidence of a single case

infers from the fact that a certain factor is sufficient for a result that the absence of that factor is necessary for the opposite result

draws a conclusion about the value of computer analyses from a case in which computer analysis provided no facts beyond what was already known

presumes, without providing justification, that occurrences that have coincided in the past must continue to coincide

presumes, without providing justification, that a player’s contribution to a team’s win or loss can be reliably quantified and analyzed by computer

7.

1 point

At Southgate Mall, mattresses are sold only at Mattress Madness. Every mattress at Mattress Madness is on sale at a 20 percent discount. So every mattress for sale at Southgate Mall is on sale at a 20 percent discount.

Which one of the following arguments is most similar in its reasoning to the argument above?

All the food in Diane’s apartment is in her refrigerator. Diane purchased all the food in her refrigerator within the past week. Therefore, she purchased all the food in her apartment within the past week.

The only food in Diane’s apartment is in her refrigerator. Diane purchased all the food in her refrigerator within the past week. Therefore, all the food she purchased within the past week is in her apartment.

The only food that Diane has purchased within the past week is in her refrigerator. All the food that she has purchased within the past week is in her apartment. Therefore, all the food in her apartment is in her refrigerator.

The only food in Diane’s apartment is in her refrigerator. All the food she purchased within the past week is in her refrigerator. Therefore, she purchased all the food in her apartment within the past week.

Diane’s refrigerator, and all the food in it, is in her apartment. Diane purchased all the food in her refrigerator within the past week. Therefore, she purchased all the food in her apartment within the past week.

8.

1 point

The university’s purchasing department is highly efficient overall. We must conclude that each of its twelve staff members is highly efficient.

Which one of the following arguments exhibits flawed reasoning most similar to that exhibited by the argument above?

This supercomputer is the most sophisticated—and the most expensive—ever built. It must be that each of its components is the most sophisticated and expensive available.

Literature critics have lavished praise on every chapter of this book. In light of their reviews, one must conclude that the book is excellent.

The outside audit of our public relations department has exposed serious deficiencies in the competence of each member of that department. We must conclude that the department is inadequate for our needs.

The employees at this fast-food restaurant are the youngest and most inexperienced of any fast-food workers in the city. Given this, it seems obvious that customers will have to wait longer for their food at this restaurant than at others.

Passing a driving test is a condition of employment at the city’s transportation department. It follows that each of the department’s employees has passed the test.

9.

1 point

Politician: The current crisis in mathematics education must be overcome if we are to remain competitive in the global economy. Alleviating this crisis requires the employment of successful teaching methods. No method of teaching a subject can succeed that does not get students to spend a significant amount of time outside of class studying that subject.

Which one of the following statements follows logically from the statements above?

Students’ spending a significant amount of time outside of class studying mathematics would help us to remain competitive in the global economy.

Only if we succeed in remaining competitive in the global economy will students spend a significant amount of time outside of class studying mathematics.

The current crisis in mathematics education will not be overcome unless students spend a significant amount of time outside of class studying mathematics.

Few subjects are as important as mathematics to the effort to remain competitive in the global economy.

If students spend a significant amount of time outside of class studying mathematics, the current crisis in mathematics education will be overcome.

10.

1 point

Downtown Petropolis boasted over 100 large buildings 5 years ago. Since then, 60 of those buildings have been demolished. Since the number of large buildings in a downtown is an indicator of the economic health of that downtown, it is clear that downtown Petropolis is in a serious state of economic decline.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

The demolitions that have taken place during the past 5 years have been evenly spread over that period.

Significantly fewer than 60 new large buildings have been built in downtown Petropolis during the past 5 years.

The large buildings demolished over the past 5 years have been replaced with small buildings built on the same sites.

There have never been significantly more than 100 large buildings in downtown Petropolis.

Most of the buildings demolished during the past 5 years were torn down because they were structurally unsound.