Skip to main content
Sign in Create a free account
Varsity Tutors
Sign in Sign up

Practice Test 9 - LSAT Logical Reasoning

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

  1. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
  2. A software lead notes that whenever a team adopts automated testing, the number of bugs found after release decreases, and when post-release bugs decrease, customer support tickets decline. The lead observes that support tickets declined after the last release. Therefore, the lead concludes that the team must have adopted automated testing. Since adopting such tools was never mandated by upper management, the lead concludes that the team must have been more quality-focused than other teams. The pattern of reasoning above is most similar to that in which one of the following?
  3. Which one of the following assumptions permits the conclusion above to be properly drawn?
  4. Chef Malhotra: The restaurant should source only local ingredients. The menu will be fresher, and shorter transport reduces emissions. You say it raises prices, but we can redesign dishes around seasonal abundance and reduce waste. Also, telling diners exactly which farms we use builds trust and loyalty. Chef Rivera: "Only local" is a marketing slogan, not a sustainability plan. Some local greenhouses use enormous energy, making their produce worse for emissions than shipped field crops. And seasonal redesign means customers lose favorite dishes for months. If the policy increases costs and disappoints regulars without reliably cutting emissions, it's not responsible. The speakers disagree about which one of the following?​
  5. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
  6. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
  7. The reasoning above is flawed for which of the following reasons?
  8. A company's procurement office follows this principle when selecting a vendor for a standard supply contract: The contract should be awarded to the vendor with the lowest total cost only if that vendor meets all stated minimum quality and delivery requirements. If the lowest-cost vendor fails to meet any minimum requirement, the contract should be awarded to the lowest-cost vendor that meets all minimum requirements. Which one of the following judgments most closely conforms to the principle above?
  9. Councilmember Vega: The city should ban gas-powered leaf blowers. They are loud and emit pollutants, and electric models now cost about the same over time because electricity is cheaper than gasoline. Residents will still get their yards maintained. Landscaper Holt: Electric blowers cannot run a full workday without multiple battery swaps, so crews will either buy many batteries or lose time charging. That added cost will be passed to customers, and some will switch to less frequent yard care, leaving more debris in streets and drains. Vega and Holt disagree about which one of the following?
  10. Which of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?
  11. Which one of the following, if true, provides the most support for the conclusion above?
  12. A university dean concludes that making introductory courses pass/fail will improve student learning. She notes that many students in these courses focus on maximizing grades rather than mastering concepts, and that instructors report students avoid challenging problems when grades are at stake. She also notes that in a pilot seminar graded pass/fail, students attempted more difficult assignments. Therefore, she concludes that switching introductory courses to pass/fail will improve learning. The dean assumes that attempting more challenging work in these courses results in improved learning of the material. Which one of the following, if assumed, allows the dean's conclusion to be properly drawn?
  13. Which of the following most accurately characterizes the method of reasoning?
  14. A town is deciding whether to repaint crosswalks with high-visibility markings. Police reports indicate that most pedestrian near-misses occur at dusk on roads where crosswalk paint has faded. The high-visibility paint lasts longer than the current paint and is designed to be more reflective at low light. Since the proposed paint directly targets the conditions under which most near-misses occur and would remain effective longer, the town should repaint crosswalks using the high-visibility markings. The reasoning above conforms most closely to which one of the following principles?
  15. Which one of the following, if true, provides the most support for the conclusion above?
  16. A wildlife agency uses this principle when deciding whether to issue a special permit to relocate a protected animal: The permit should be issued only if (1) relocation is necessary to prevent immediate danger to human life, and (2) the relocation plan has been reviewed and approved by a qualified veterinarian. If either condition is not met, the permit should not be issued. Which one of the following judgments most closely conforms to the principle above?
  17. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
  18. Passage: A school district replaced its paper permission slips with an online form. The percentage of students returning permission forms on time increased from 62% to 85%. Since the online form sends automatic reminder emails, the reminders likely helped parents respond promptly. Because on-time forms reduce administrative delays, the district should adopt online forms for all student paperwork to reduce delays throughout the year. The argument above depends on which one of the following assumptions?
  19. A university is debating whether to require a placement test for a new language course. In each of the last five semesters, whenever students took the placement test, fewer than 10 percent later dropped the course. This semester the department will require the placement test. So, fewer than 10 percent of students will drop the course this semester. Therefore, requiring the placement test is an effective way to prevent high drop rates. The reasoning above conforms most closely to which one of the following principles?
  20. A neighborhood association will schedule exactly two workshops: one on safety and one on gardening. The safety workshop must be either Fire (F) or First Aid (A). The gardening workshop must be either Vegetables (V) or Native Plants (N). If Fire is chosen, then Native Plants is not chosen. If First Aid is chosen, then Vegetables is chosen. Native Plants is chosen if and only if Fire is not chosen. Also, Vegetables cannot be chosen on the same day as Fire. If the statements above are true, which one of the following CANNOT be true?

Practice tests