Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 1, Question 2 (Fill in the Blank)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Fill in the Blank questions ask you to finish the argument. The blank is usually its conclusion.
- Read the words just before the blank. If they signal a conclusion (so, hence, it follows that), pick the choice the premises already prove. Skip anything that says more than they do.
- Every question on this test is original, written to the same logical skeletons as real questions, and Steve checked every one himself before release.
The question
Designers of large concert venues struggle to prevent the crowd bottlenecks that form when thousands of people try to leave at the same moment. Bottlenecks of this sort can also form in the stepped open-air theaters built centuries ago in the Vallis region. Yet the circulation principles on which those older theaters were laid out keep such bottlenecks far less common there than in venues built today. Hence, _______.
2. Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?
- (A)designing a large concert venue requires formal training in architectural history
- (B)designers who face any difficulty should always look to historical buildings for a solution
- (C)the most effective venue managers already apply the circulation principles used in the stepped theaters of the Vallis region
- (D)a venue laid out on the circulation principles of the Vallis theaters would empty faster than any venue now in use
- (E)studying the circulation principles behind the Vallis theaters could help designers create large concert venues with fewer bottlenecks
EWhy (E) is correct
Bottlenecks form at modern concert venues, and they can form at the old stepped theaters of the Vallis region too, but the theaters' layout keeps the problem far rarer there. The blank needs the modest claim the evidence earns, not a bold one. Studying the Vallis circulation principles could help designers cut bottlenecks in new venues. That's the measured takeaway the comparison supports, nothing more.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) is too strong, formal training in architectural history isn't required just because one old layout works well.
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) overshoots into a blanket rule that any design problem should send designers to historical buildings, far beyond one useful comparison.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) claims today's best managers already use Vallis principles, but the stimulus never says anything about current practice.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) claims a Vallis-style venue would beat every venue now in use at emptying fast, a comparison the passage never draws; the passage only says Vallis theaters have fewer bottlenecks than typical venues, not that they'd outperform every design.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Fill in the Blank. Fill in the Blank questions ask you to finish the argument. The blank is usually its conclusion.
How do I get better at Fill in the Blank questions?
Read the words just before the blank. If they signal a conclusion (so, hence, it follows that), pick the choice the premises already prove. Skip anything that says more than they do. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
