Strengthen/Support
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LSAT Logical Reasoning › Strengthen/Support
Intellectual property rights are essential to providing incentives for pharmaceutical companies to innovate and create new medicines. Despite this, the government should be willing to curtail some intellectual property rights. Millions of people are dying of various diseases and the fact that some pharmaceutical companies have exclusive rights to produce certain drugs means many people are unable to purchase those drugs.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument presented in the stimulus.
Many of the innovations necessary to help fight against various diseases that are killing millions of people have already occurred and have been patented.
Some diseases have a long incubation period before they begin to show their symptoms.
Many pharmaceutical companies would not innovate if they did not have large monetary incentives to do so.
Various countries across the world already violate intellectual property rights.
Many drugs that are produced by companies other than the ones that initially invented them are defective.
Explanation
The correct answer will help strengthen the argument presented in the stimulus. One way to strengthen this stimulus is by showing that the reduction in innovation produced by curtailing intellectual property rights will not make it harder to help the millions of people across the world dying of various diseases. The correct answer does this by showing that the innovations to help cure the disease have already occurred.
Teacher: While standardized testing is appropriate for adults and high school students, it should not be used with younger children. The variety of curricula, as well as the fact that many elementary school-aged children are home schooled or attend private schools, make a single standard of measurement nearly impossible at that age. While some would argue that children’s innate abilities can be isolated from their learned knowledge, experience shows that these distinctions are nearly impossible to make until children reach their teenage years.
Which one of the following, if true, would most support the teacher’s argument?
By the time they reach their junior year of high school, nearly all students have taken a class in algebra, though some take such classes as early as the seventh grade.
Most elementary school children who attend private schools are taught the same subjects as those who attend public schools.
Standardized IQ tests, which are crafted to take age into account, are commonly given to children as young as three years old.
Many believe that the human brain’s capacity for learning does not fully develop until a person is at least sixteen years old.
Standardized tests are becoming increasingly important for college admission, often outweighing a student’s high school grade point average.
Explanation
Since the argument explicitly listed varying curricula as a reason to delay standardized testing, showing that nearly all high school juniors have taken algebra by then (and not all in the same grade) directly supports the argument. Giving a standardized test containing algebra is, in fact, more appropriate when all the students taking the test are familiar with it. The remaining answer choices either provide little relevant support or weaken the argument rather than strengthening it.
For about thirty years, government intelligence departments have spent resources equally between domestic and foreign activities. For about the same amount of time, intelligence departments have conducted covert operations in addition to intelligence gathering. This conduct has raised public concern that intelligence departments wield too much authority. In the end, though, domestic spending and covert operations may be simply a consequence of ineptness.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
Intelligence departments have been less powerful over the last thirty years than they were previously
Intelligence departments have conducted fewer covert operations over the last fifteen years than they did over the fifteen years prior to that
Intelligence departments must be powerful in order to address international threats
Intelligence departments were inept before they began covert operations or spending on domestic intelligence
The public has been concerned that intelligence departments are too powerful for more than thirty years
Explanation
No answer choice provides substantial support for the author. The correct answer here, however, provides some support for the author's skepticism about whether the conduct of departments indicates that they wield too much power. If departments were more powerful before they began covert operations and domestic spending, then it is somewhat less likely that this conduct indicates too much power.
Psychologist: Intelligence cannot be adequately captured by a single number, such as an IQ score. There are different types of intelligence, including social, emotional, and kinesthetic. Indeed, these forms of intelligence may be even more important than IQ when it comes to everyday functioning and life satisfaction. Humans face different types of challenges, many of which cannot be expressed or measured in a standardized test. It is, therefore, likely that IQ scores are overvalued in our society, and should be de-emphasized.
Which one of the following, if true, lends the most support to the psychologist’s argument?
One longitudinal study found that participants, who were statistically indistinguishable with regard to their IQ scores, reported being happier and more financially successful when they were skilled at managing their social and family relationships.
Studies have shown that persons with high IQ scores tend to succeed more in white collar rather than blue collar jobs.
Some psychologists have devised testing regimes to measure social and kinesthetic intelligence, which involve hands-on assessments rather than the usual standardized testing format.
Most adults in our society have never taken an IQ test and do not know what their IQ score is.
Some scientists have criticized IQ scores for being unreliable over time, due to the possibility of test takers being able to “study” for them by focusing on specific mathematical and verbal subjects between assessments.
Explanation
The key phrases in the psychologist’s conclusion are “everyday functioning and life satisfaction.” A study which shows that skills not measured by IQ (relationship management) may lead to greater happiness and financial success is strong evidence of an IQ score’s limitations.
A rock band has seen recent declines in their concert attendance. To combat the decline in attendance, the rock band included more new music in their performance because a pop band recently included more new music in their live performances and saw an increase of attendance.
Which of the following most supports the rock band’s reasoning?
Rock bands and pop bands have similar patterns of attendance.
People who go to see pop bands also go to see rock bands.
People always want to hear a new song.
Rock bands are more popular than pop bands.
Some of the drop in attendance was due to a pop band releasing several new songs.
Explanation
If rock bands and pop bands have similar patterns of attendance, then it would follow for the rock band to mimic the pop band’s means to increasing attendance. Just because people want to hear a new song does not mean they will necessarily go to a concert to hear it.
Psychologist: Intelligence cannot be adequately captured by a single number, such as an IQ score. There are different types of intelligence, including social, emotional, and kinesthetic. Indeed, these forms of intelligence may be even more important than IQ when it comes to everyday functioning and life satisfaction. Humans face different types of challenges, many of which cannot be expressed or measured in a standardized test. It is, therefore, likely that IQ scores are overvalued in our society, and should be de-emphasized.
Which one of the following, if true, lends the most support to the psychologist’s argument?
One longitudinal study found that participants, who were statistically indistinguishable with regard to their IQ scores, reported being happier and more financially successful when they were skilled at managing their social and family relationships.
Studies have shown that persons with high IQ scores tend to succeed more in white collar rather than blue collar jobs.
Some psychologists have devised testing regimes to measure social and kinesthetic intelligence, which involve hands-on assessments rather than the usual standardized testing format.
Most adults in our society have never taken an IQ test and do not know what their IQ score is.
Some scientists have criticized IQ scores for being unreliable over time, due to the possibility of test takers being able to “study” for them by focusing on specific mathematical and verbal subjects between assessments.
Explanation
The key phrases in the psychologist’s conclusion are “everyday functioning and life satisfaction.” A study which shows that skills not measured by IQ (relationship management) may lead to greater happiness and financial success is strong evidence of an IQ score’s limitations.
In Southern California, a small newspaper company has doubled its sales of newspapers this quarter, compared to the previous quarter. However, it is bringing in significantly less revenue.
Which of the following, if true, offers the best explanation for the situation described above?
The newspaper company has lowered the prices of the paper in order sell more; however, the increase in sales does not offset the lower price point.
Given the accessibility that the general public has to newspapers online, the need for physical newspapers has diminished.
Key members of the executive leadership quit from the company.
The increased sales were not enough to help the company to generate more revenue.
Although newspaper sales increased, there were reports of low customer satisfaction.
Explanation
The correct answer is:
The newspaper company has lowered the prices of the paper in order sell more; however, the increase in sales does not offset the lower price point.
This is because lowering the price of a product will only increase revenue if a sufficient amount of the product is sold. If the newspaper company did not sell enough of its product, then it follows that revenue would decrease.
For about thirty years, government intelligence departments have spent resources equally between domestic and foreign activities. For about the same amount of time, intelligence departments have conducted covert operations in addition to intelligence gathering. This conduct has raised public concern that intelligence departments wield too much authority. In the end, though, domestic spending and covert operations may be simply a consequence of ineptness.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
Intelligence departments have been less powerful over the last thirty years than they were previously
Intelligence departments have conducted fewer covert operations over the last fifteen years than they did over the fifteen years prior to that
Intelligence departments must be powerful in order to address international threats
Intelligence departments were inept before they began covert operations or spending on domestic intelligence
The public has been concerned that intelligence departments are too powerful for more than thirty years
Explanation
No answer choice provides substantial support for the author. The correct answer here, however, provides some support for the author's skepticism about whether the conduct of departments indicates that they wield too much power. If departments were more powerful before they began covert operations and domestic spending, then it is somewhat less likely that this conduct indicates too much power.
A rock band has seen recent declines in their concert attendance. To combat the decline in attendance, the rock band included more new music in their performance because a pop band recently included more new music in their live performances and saw an increase of attendance.
Which of the following most supports the rock band’s reasoning?
Rock bands and pop bands have similar patterns of attendance.
People who go to see pop bands also go to see rock bands.
People always want to hear a new song.
Rock bands are more popular than pop bands.
Some of the drop in attendance was due to a pop band releasing several new songs.
Explanation
If rock bands and pop bands have similar patterns of attendance, then it would follow for the rock band to mimic the pop band’s means to increasing attendance. Just because people want to hear a new song does not mean they will necessarily go to a concert to hear it.
In Southern California, a small newspaper company has doubled its sales of newspapers this quarter, compared to the previous quarter. However, it is bringing in significantly less revenue.
Which of the following, if true, offers the best explanation for the situation described above?
The newspaper company has lowered the prices of the paper in order sell more; however, the increase in sales does not offset the lower price point.
Given the accessibility that the general public has to newspapers online, the need for physical newspapers has diminished.
Key members of the executive leadership quit from the company.
The increased sales were not enough to help the company to generate more revenue.
Although newspaper sales increased, there were reports of low customer satisfaction.
Explanation
The correct answer is:
The newspaper company has lowered the prices of the paper in order sell more; however, the increase in sales does not offset the lower price point.
This is because lowering the price of a product will only increase revenue if a sufficient amount of the product is sold. If the newspaper company did not sell enough of its product, then it follows that revenue would decrease.