Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 2, Question 25 (Principle)
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- Principle questions ask which general rule fits the situation.
- Predict what a correct answer needs to do before you read the choices.
- 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
Design critic: A printed page strikes readers as satisfying to the degree that it looks as though the compositor who set the type managed to accomplish what they set out to do.
25. If the design critic's generalization is correct, which one of the following arguments does it most help to justify?
- (A)The Halbrook title page is highly satisfying to read. Yet, although no reader can tell, the compositor never meant the lines to fall where they now fall. The lines should therefore be reset to match what he intended.
- (B)The lines on the Halbrook title page probably do not fall where the compositor wanted them to fall, since that page is less satisfying to read than the other pages in the volume.
- (C)The Halbrook title page would be more satisfying to read if its lines were spaced more evenly, since the page would then look more as though the compositor had set them as he wished.
- (D)The compositor could make the Halbrook title page more satisfying to read by spacing its lines less evenly, since the page would then look less as though every detail had been settled in advance.
- (E)The Halbrook title page probably looks as though its compositor did not entirely manage what he was trying to do, since the spacing of its lines is nearly, but not quite, even.
CWhy (C) is correct
The critic's rule ties a page's satisfaction to how strongly it looks as though the compositor pulled off what they meant to do. (C) uses that rule correctly: spacing the Halbrook lines more evenly would make the page look more like the compositor set them exactly as intended, and by the rule, that stronger look of success is what would make the page more satisfying to read.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) rests its conclusion on an intention no reader can detect, but the rule ties satisfaction to how the page looks to a reader, not to the compositor's private plan.
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) runs the rule backward, inferring from one page being less satisfying than others that the compositor missed his mark, when the rule only reasons from impression to satisfaction.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) works against the rule: spacing the lines less evenly would make the page look less like the compositor got it right, which the rule says should lower satisfaction, not raise it.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) stops at a claim about how the page looks and never draws the further conclusion about satisfaction that the rule is built to support.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Principle. Principle questions ask which general rule fits the situation.
How do I get better at Principle questions?
Predict the answer before reading the choices. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
