Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 3, Question 3 (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
Vance: The clinic's director will extend evening hours. The nursing staff will accept her revised triage system only if she extends them, and nothing matters to her more than winning acceptance for that system. Okonjo: Her revised triage system will not win acceptance, since she cares more about keeping evening hours as they stand than about the system.
3. On the basis of their statements, Vance and Okonjo must both accept which one of the following?
- (A)The director will extend evening hours.
- (B)The nursing staff will accept the revised triage system only if the director extends evening hours.
- (C)The revised triage system will not win acceptance.
- (D)Keeping evening hours as they stand matters more to the director than winning acceptance for the triage system.
- (E)Winning acceptance for the revised triage system is what matters most to the director.
BWhy (B) is correct
Vance states outright that the nursing staff will accept the revised triage system only if the director extends evening hours, and Okonjo's argument depends on that same link: the system fails to win acceptance precisely because the director won't do what's needed for it, extend those hours. (B) captures the conditional both of them are committed to, whether or not each speaker says it out loud.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) is a point of disagreement: Vance concludes the director will extend the hours, while Okonjo's argument assumes she won't.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) only Okonjo claims. Vance's reasoning points to the system winning acceptance, not failing.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) is only Okonjo's premise, and it contradicts Vance's claim that nothing matters more to the director than winning the system's acceptance.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) is only Vance's premise, and Okonjo is committed to the opposite ranking, that keeping evening hours as they stand matters more.
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.
