LSAT Prep Test (Official LSAT Prep Test: 20)
S1Q7: The crux of creativity resides in the ability to manufacture variations of a theme. If we look at the history of science, for instance, we see that every idea is built upon a thousand related ideas. Careful analysis leads us to understand that what we choose to call a new theme or a new discovery is itself always and without exception some sort of variation, on a deep level, of previous themes.
If all statements in the passage are true, each of the following must also be true EXCEPT: A) A lack of ability to manufacture a variation on a previous theme connotes a lack of creativity. B) No scientific idea is entirely independent of all other ideas. C) Careful analysis of a specific variation can reveal previous themes of which it is a variation. D) All great scientific discoverers have been able to manufacture a variation on a theme. E) Some new scientific discoveries do no represent, on a deep level, a variation on previous themes.
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S1Q1: French divers recently found a large cave along the coasr of the Mediterrian Sea. The cave is accessible only through an underwater tunnel. The interior of the cave is completely filled with seawater and contains numerous stalagmites, which are stony pillars that form when drops of water fall repeadetely on a single spot on a cave floor, leaving behind mineral deposits that accumulate over time.
The information provided most strongly supports which of the following? A) The Mediterranean Sea was at a higher level in the past than it is now. B) The water level within the cave is higher now than it once was. C) The French divers were the first people who knew that the tunnel leading to the cave existed. D) There was once an entrance to the cave besides the underwater tunnel. E) Seawater in the Mediterranean has a lower mineral content now than when the stalagmites were being formed.
S1Q3: Manager: Our new computer network, the purpose of which is to increase productivity, can be installed during the day, which would not disrupt our employees' work, or else at night which would entail much higher installation charges. Since saving money is important, we should have the network installed during the day.
The manager's argument assumes which of the following? A) The monetary value of the network equipment would not exceed the cost of having the equipment installed at night. B) The monetary value of any productivity lost during a daytime installation would be less than the difference between daytime and nighttime installation costs. C) A daytime installation would be completed by no larger a crew and would be completed and take no more time than a night installation. D) Once the network has been installed, most of the company's employees will use it immediately to increase their productivity. E) Most of the company's employees would be able to work productively while a daytime installation is in progress.
s1Q10: Premiums for automobile accident insurance are higher for red cars than for cars of other colors. To that, overall, a greater percentage of red cars are involved in accidents than are cars of any other color. If this claim is true, then lives could undoubtedly be saved by banning red cars from the road all together.
The reasoning in this argument is flawed because the argument... A) Accepts without question that insurance companies have the right to charge higher premiums for higher-risk clients. B) Fails to consider whether red cars cost the same to repairs as cars of other colors. C) Ignores the possibility that drivers who drive recklessly have a preference for red cars. D) Does not specify what percentage of red cars are involved in accidents. E) Makes an unsupported assumption that every automobile accident results in some loss of life.
S1Q6: Besides laying eggs in her own nest, any female wood duck will lay an egg in the nest of another female wood duck if she sees the other duck is leaver her nest. Under natural nesting conditions, this parasitic behavior is relatively rare because the ducks' nests are well hidden. However, when people put up nesting boxes to help the ducks breed, they actually undercut the ducks' reproductive efforts. These nesting boxes become so crowded with extra eggs that few, if any, of the eggs in those boxes hatch.
The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following? A) Female wood ducks will establish nests in nest boxes only when natural nesting sites are not available. B) Nesting female wood ducks who often see other female wood ducks are most successful in their breeding efforts. C) The nesting boxes for wood ducks have less space for eggs than do natural nesting sites. D) The nesting boxes would be more effective in helping wood ducks breed if they were less visible to other wood ducks than they currently are. E) Nesting boxes are needed to supplement the natural nesting sites of wood ducks because of the destruction of much of the ducks' habitat.
S1Q8: Millions of female bats rear their pups in Bracken Cave. Although the mothers all leave the cave nightly, on their return each mother is almost always swiftly reunited with her own pup. Since the bats' call are their only means of finding one another, and a bat pup cannot distinguish the call of her mother from that of any other adult bat, it is clear that each mother bat can recognize the call of her pup.
This argument seeks to do which of the following? A) Derive a general conclusion about all members of a group from facts known about the representative members of that group. B) Establish the validity of one explanation for a phenomenon by excluding alternative explanations. C) Support, by describing a suitable mechanism, the hypothesis that a certain phenomenon can occur. D) Conclude that members of two groups are likely to share a certain ability because of the characteristics they share. E) Demonstrate that a general rule that applies in a particular case.
S1Q2: A director of the Rexx Pharmaceutical Company argued that the development costs for new vaccines that the health department has requested should be subsidized by the government, since the marketing of vaccines promised to be less profitable than the marketing of any other pharmaceutical product. In support of this claim the director argued that sales of vaccines are likely to be lower since each vaccine is administered to a patient only once, whereas medicines that combat diseases and chronic illnesses are administered many times to each patient.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the support offered by the company director for the claim concerning the marketing of vaccines? A) Vaccines are administered to many more people than other pharmaceutical products. B) Many of the diseases that vaccines are designed to prevent can be successfully treated by medicines. C) Pharmaceutical companies occasionally market products that are neither medicines nor vaccines. D) Pharmaceutical companies other than Rexx Pharmaceutical Company produce vaccines. E) The cost of administering a vaccine is rarely borne by the pharmaceutical company that manufactures that vaccine.
S1Q11: A certain credit-card company awards its customers bonus points for using its credit card. Customers can use accumulated points in the purchase of brand name merchandise by mail at prices lower than the manufacturers' suggested retail prices. At any given time, therefore, customers who purchase merchandise using the bonus points spend less than they would spend if they purchased the same merchandise in retail stores.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? A) The merchandise that can be ordered by mail using the bonus points is not offered at lower prices by other credit-card companies that award bonus points. B) The bonus points cannot be used by the credit-card customers in the purchase of brand name merchandise that is not available for purchase in retail stores. C) The credit-card company does not require its customers to accumulate a large number of bonus points before becoming eligible to order merchandise at prices lower than the manufactures' suggested retail price. D) The amount credit-card customers pay for shipping the merchandise ordered by mail does not increase the amount customers spend to an amount greater than they would spend to purchase the same merchandise in retail stores. E) The merchandise available to the company's credit-card customers using the bonus points is frequently sold in retail stores at prices that are higher than the manufacturers' suggested retail price.
S1Q5: Archaeologist: A large corporation has recently offered to provide funding to restore an archaeological site and to construct facilities to make the site readily accessible to the general public. The restoration will conform to the best current theories about how the site appeared at the height of the ancient civilization that occupied it. This offer should be rejected, however, because many parts of the site contain unexamined evidence.
Which one of the following principles, if valid, justifies the archaeologist's argument? A) The ownership of the archaeological sites should not be under control of business interests. B) Any restoration of an archaeological site should represent only the ancient period of that site's history. C) No one should make judgments about what constitutes the height of another civilization. D) Only those with a true concern for an archaeological site's history should be involved in the restoration of that site. E) The risk of losing evidence relevant to possible future theories should outweigh any advantages of displaying the results of theories already developed.
S1Q12: It is probably not true that colic in infants is caused by the inability of those infants to tolerate certain antibodies found in cow's milk, since it is often the case that symptoms of colic are show by infants that are fed breast milk exclusively.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument... A) A study involving 500 sets of twins has found that one infant has colic, its twin will probably also have colic. B) Symptoms of colic generally disappear as infants grow older, whether the infants have been fed breast milk exclusively or have been fed infant formula containing cow's milk. C) In a study of 5,000 infants who were fed only infant formula containing cow's milk, over 4,000 of the infants never displayed any symptoms of colic. D) When mothers of infants that are fed only breast milk eliminate cow's milk from their own diets, any colic symptoms that their infants have manifested quickly disappear. E) Infants that are fed breast milk develop mature digestive systems at an earlier age than those that are fed infant formulas, and infants with mature digestive systems are better able to tolerate certain proteins and antibodies found in cow's milk.
S1Q4: An ingredient in marijuana known as THC has been found to inactivate herpesviruses in experiments. In previous experiments researchers found that inactivated herpesviruses can convert healthy cells into cancer cells. It can be concluded that the use of marijuana can cause cancer.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? A) Several teams of scientists performed the various experiments and all of the teams had similar results. B) The carcinogenic effect of THC could be neutralized by the other ingredients found in marijuana. C) When THC kills herpesviruses it weakens the immune system, and it might thus diminish the body's ability to fight other viruses, including viruses linked to cancers. D) If chemists modify the structure of THC, THC can be safely incorporated into medications to prevent herpes. E) To lessen the undesirable side effects of chemotherapy, the use of marijuana has been recommended for cancer patients who are free of the herpesvirus.
S1Q9: Someone who gets sick from eating a meal will often develop a strong distaste for the one food in the meal that had the most distinctive flavor, whether or not that food caused the sickness. This phenomenon explains why children are especially likely to develop strong aversions to some foods.
Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the explanation? A) Children are more likely than adults to be given meals composed of foods lacking especially distinctive flavors. B) Children are less likely than adults to see a connection between their health and the foods they eat. C) Children tend to have more acute taste and to become sick more often than adults do. D) Children typically recover more slowly than adults do from sickness caused by food. E) Children are more likely than adults to refuse to eat unfamiliar food.
