Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 3, Question 8 (Role of the Statement)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Role questions ask what job a single claim does in the argument.
- Find the main conclusion first. Then ask whether the claim is that conclusion, supports it, or is a point the argument pushes back on.
- 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
Supervisor: A hold sticker exists to make a sewer stop and rework a garment, and it does this by marking that a defect is present. Sewers stop and rework only when they think a sticker probably marks a real defect. But as the number of conditions that earn a sticker grows, the share of stickers marking real defects falls. A sewing line therefore runs well only when stickers are limited to the few defects that customers refuse to accept.
8. The claim that a hold sticker exists to make a sewer stop and rework a garment by marking that a defect is present plays which one of the following roles in the supervisor's argument?
- (A)It states the conclusion that the supervisor's reasoning is meant to establish.
- (B)It is a claim taken as given and used to support the supervisor's conclusion.
- (C)It is inferred from earlier claims and then serves as support for a further conclusion.
- (D)It is a stance that the supervisor's reasoning as a whole is meant to undermine.
- (E)It backs an unstated conclusion that a sewing line needs many more inspectors.
BWhy (B) is correct
The supervisor opens by asserting that a hold sticker exists to make a sewer stop and rework a garment by marking that a defect is present, then builds forward: sewers stop and rework only when they trust a sticker probably marks a real defect, that trust falls as more conditions earn a sticker, so a line runs well only when stickers stay limited to the few defects customers won't accept. Nothing in the argument argues for that opening claim, it's simply asserted and then used as the base the rest of the reasoning stands on.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) treats the claim as the conclusion, but the conclusion is the closing line about limiting stickers to a few intolerable defects, which this claim supports rather than states.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) would require the claim to be inferred from something earlier, but nothing precedes it in the argument, so it can't be an intermediate conclusion.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) has the argument working to undermine the claim, but the supervisor relies on it the entire way through.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) ties the claim to a conclusion about needing more inspectors, an idea that never shows up anywhere in the supervisor's reasoning.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Role of the Statement. Role questions ask what job a single claim does in the argument.
How do I get better at Role of the Statement questions?
Find the main conclusion first. Then ask whether the claim is that conclusion, supports it, or is a point the argument pushes back on. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
