Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 1, Question 19 (Point at Issue)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Point at Issue questions ask what 2 speakers actually disagree about. The right answer is something both have an opinion on, and those opinions conflict.
- Find a claim both speakers actually address, then check that their opinions on it conflict. Wrong answers usually raise something only 1 speaker mentioned.
- 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
Contest entrant: The society is unfair to keep images finished with the new noise-reduction programs out of its juried show simply because no independent panel has evaluated those programs. Whether or not the programs distort fine detail, photographers ought to be free to finish their own images with whatever program they choose, and this bar interferes with how we work. Show judge: Photographers may finish their images with any program they like, and I take no position on whether these programs distort fine detail. The bar governs only what hangs in the juried show, which excludes images finished with a program that no independent panel has evaluated.
19. On the basis of their statements, the contest entrant and the show judge are committed to holding opposite views on whether
- (A)the society ought to require every entrant to identify, for each submitted image, the specific programs used to finish it
- (B)photographers ought to be free to finish their own images with whatever program they choose
- (C)keeping images finished with a given program out of the juried show amounts to keeping photographers from using that program in their work
- (D)programs that no independent panel has evaluated in fact rarely distort fine detail
- (E)restricting the use of programs that an independent panel has already evaluated is ever justified
CWhy (C) is correct
(C) is the actual split. The entrant says the bar interferes with how photographers work by keeping certain images out of the juried show, treating exclusion from the show as the same thing as being stopped from using a program. The judge denies exactly that, saying photographers may finish their images with any program they like and that the bar only decides what hangs in the juried show. One side equates exclusion from the show with a restriction on their work, the other insists they're different things.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) neither the entrant nor the judge says anything about requiring entrants to identify which programs they used.
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) both actually affirm that photographers should be free to choose their own program, so this is agreement, not the split.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) neither takes a position on whether unevaluated programs actually distort fine detail; the entrant raises it only to set it aside, and the judge explicitly declines to weigh in.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) is off. The judge's bar only reaches programs no panel has evaluated, so restricting programs an independent panel has already cleared never comes up.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Point at Issue. Point at Issue questions ask what 2 speakers actually disagree about. The right answer is something both have an opinion on, and those opinions conflict.
How do I get better at Point at Issue questions?
Find a claim both speakers actually address, then check that their opinions on it conflict. Wrong answers usually raise something only 1 speaker mentioned. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
