LSAT-TEST Online Practice Questions and Answers

Linda says that, as a scientist, she knows that no scientist appreciates poetry. And, since most scientists are logical, at least some of the people who appreciate poetry are illogical.

Which one of the following is most parallel in its reasoning to the flawed reasoning above?

A. Ralph says that, as an expert in biology, he knows that no marsupial lays eggs. And, since most marsupials are native to Australia, at least some of the animals native to Australia do not lay eggs.

B. Franz says that, as a father of four children, he knows that no father wants children to eat candy at bedtime. And, since most fathers are adults, at least some of the people who want children to eat candy at bedtime are children.

C. Yuri says that, as a wine connoisseur, he knows that no wine aged in metal containers is equal in quality to the best wine aged in oak. And, since most California wine is aged in metal containers, California wine is inferior to at least the best French wine aged in oak.

D. Xi says that, as an experienced photographer, she knows that no color film produces images as sharp as the best black-and-white film. And, since most instant film is color film, at least some instant film produces images less sharp than the best black-and-white film.

E. Betty says that, as a corporate executive, she knows that no corporate executives like to pay taxes. And, since most corporate executives are honest people, at least some people who like to pay taxes are honest people.

On a Tuesday, an accountant has exactly seven bills -- numbered 1 through 7 -- to pay by Thursday of the

same week. The accountant will pay each bill only once according to the following rules:

Either three or four of the seven bills must be paid on Wednesday, the rest on Thursday.

Bill 1 cannot be paid on the same day as bill 5.

Bill 2 must be paid on Thursday.

Bill 4 must be paid on the same day as bill 7.

If bill 6 is paid on Wednesday, bill 7 must be paid on Thursday.

If exactly four bills are paid on Wednesday, then those four bills could be

A. 1,3, 4, and 6

B. 1, 3, 5, and 6

C. 2, 4, 5, and 7

D. 3, 4, 5, and 7

E. 3, 4, 6, and 7

For next year, the Chefs' Union has requested a 10 percent salary increase for each of its members, whereas the Hotel Managers' Union has requested only an 8 percent salary increase for each of its members. These facts demonstrate that the average dollar amount of the raises that the Chefs' Union has requested for next year is greater than that of the raises requested by the Hotel Managers' Union.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

A. The Chefs' Union has many more members than does the Hotel Managers' Union.

B. The Chefs' Union is a more powerful union than is the Hotel Managers' Union and is therefore more likely to obtain the salary increases it requests.

C. The current salaries of the members of the Chefs' Union are, on average, higher than the current salaries of the members of the Hotel Managers' Union.

D. The average dollar amount of the raises that the members of the Chefs' Union received last year was equal to the average dollar amount of the raises that the members of the Hotel Managers' Union received.

E. The members of the Chefs' Union received salary increases of 10 percent in each of the last two years, while the members of the Hotel Managers' Union received salary increases of only 8 percent in each of the last two years.

There are exactly ten stores and no other buildings on Oak Street. On the north side of the street, from west to east, are stores 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9; on the south side of the street, also from west to east, are stores 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. The stores on the north side are located directly across the street from those on the south side, facing each other in pairs, as follows: 1 and 2; 3 and 4; 5 and 6; 7 and 8; 9 and 10. Each store is decorated with lights in exactly one of the following colors:

green, red, and yellow. The stores have been decorated with lights according to the following conditions:

No store is decorated with lights of the same color as those of any store adjacent to it.

No store is decorated with lights of the same color as those of the store directly across the street from it.

Yellow lights decorate exactly one store on each side of the street.

Red lights decorate store 4.

Yellow lights decorate store 5.

Suppose that yellow lights decorate exactly two stores, not just one, on the south side of the street and

decorate exactly one store on the north side.

If all of the other conditions remain the same, then which one of the following statements must be true?

A. Green lights decorate store 1.

B. Red lights decorate store 7.

C. Red lights decorate store 10.

D. Yellow lights decorate store 2.

E. Yellow lights decorate store 8.

After the United Nations Security Council authorized military intervention by a coalition of armed forces intended to halt civil strife in a certain country, the parliament of one UN member nation passed a resolution condemning its own prime minister for promising to commit military personnel to the action. A parliamentary leader insisted that the overwhelming vote for the resolution did not imply the parliament's opposition to the anticipated intervention; on the contrary, most members of parliament supported the UN plan.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy presented above?

A. The UN Security Council cannot legally commit the military of a member nation to armed intervention in other countries.

B. In the parliamentary leader's nation, it is the constitutional prerogative of the parliament, not of the prime minister, to initiate foreign military action.

C. The parliament would be responsible for providing the funding necessary in order to contribute military personnel to the UN intervention.

D. The public would not support the military action unless it was known that the parliament supported the action.

E. Members of the parliament traditionally are more closely attuned to public sentiment, especially with

regard to military action, than are prime ministers.

The raisin business in America was born by accident. It happened in 1873 in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Many farmers raised grapes in this valley. That year, just before the grape harvest, there was a heat wave. It was one of the worst heat waves ever known. It was so hot the grapes dried on the vines. When they were picked, California had its first raisin crop. People were surprised to find how good raisins were. Everybody wanted more. So the San Joaquin farmers went into the raisin business. Today, of course, they do not let the grapes dry on the vines. They treat them with much more care. In late August the grapes start to ripen. They are tested often for sweetness. The growers wait until the sugar content is twenty-one percent. Then they know the grapes are ripe enough to be picked. Skilled workers come to the vineyards. They pick the bunches of grapes by hand. The workers fill their flat pans with grapes. They gently empty the pans onto squares of paper. These squares lie between the long rows of vines. They sit in the sun. Here the grapes stay while the sun does its work. It may take two weeks or longer. The grapes are first dried on one side. When they have reached the right color, they are turned to dry on the other side. The grapes are dried until only fifteen percent of the moisture is left. Then they have turned into raisins. The raisins are rolled up in the paper on which they have dried. Trucks take them from the fields. They are poured into big boxes called sweatboxes. Each box holds one hundred and sixty pounds of raisins. Here, any raisins that are a bit too dry take moisture from those that have a bit too much. After a while they are all just moist enough. The big boxes are trucked next to the packaging plant. They are emptied onto a conveyor belt that shakes the raisins gently. This knocks them from their stems. A blast of air whisks the stems away. The water bath is next. Then the plump brown raisins have a last inspection. They are again checked for moisture and sugar. Then they go on a belt to packing machines. Here they are poured into packages, which are automatically weighed and sealed. The raisins are now ready for market.

What is the main idea of this passage?

A. The creation of raisins in America was an accident.

B. The process of raisin development requires multiple steps.

C. Raisins on the grocery store shelf undergo a brief fermentation process.

D. Raisins are cleaned thoroughly at the packing plant.

E. California has been the leader in American raisin development.

The Trojan War is one of the most famous wars in history. It is well known for the ten year duration, for the heroism of a number of legendary characters, and for the Trojan horse. What may not be familiar, however, is the story of how the war began. According to Greek myth, the strife between the Trojans and the Greeks started at the wedding of Peleus, King of Thessaly, and Thetis, a sea nymph. All of the gods and goddesses had been invited to the wedding celebration in Troy except Eris, goddesses of discord. She had been omitted from the guest list because her presence always embroiled mortals and immortals alike in conflict. To take revenge on those who had slighted her, Eris decided to cause a skirmish. Into the middle of the banquet hall, she threw a golden apple marked "for the most beautiful." All of the goddesses began to haggle over who should possess it. The gods and goddesses reached a stalemate when the choice was narrowed to Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Someone was needed to settle the controversy by picking a winner. The job eventually fell to Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, who was said to be a good judge of beauty. Paris did not have an easy job. Each goddess, eager to win the golden apple, tried aggressively to bribe him. "I'll grant you vast kingdoms to rule, "promised Hera. "Vast kingdoms are nothing in comparison with my gift," contradicted Athena. "Choose me and I'll see that you win victory and fame in war." Aphrodite outdid her adversaries, however. She won the golden apple by offering Helen, Zeus' daughter and the most beautiful mortal, to Paris. Paris, anxious to claim Helen, set off for Sparta in Greece. Although Paris learned that Helen was married, he accepted the hospitality of her husband, King Menelasu of Sparta, anyway. Therefore, Menelaus was outraged for a number of reasons when Paris departed, taking Helen and much of the king's wealth back to Troy. Menelaus collected his loyal forces and set sail for Troy to begin the war to reclaim Helen.

Each goddess tried ___________ to bribe Paris.

A. boldly

B. effectively

C. secretly

D. carefully

E. answer not stated

Many great inventions are greeted with ridicule and disbelief. The invention of the airplane was no exception. Although many people who heard about the first powered flight on December 17, 1903, were excited and impressed, others reacted with peals of laughter. The idea of flying an aircraft was repulsive to some people. Such people called Wilbur and Orville Wright, the inventors of the first flying machine, impulsive fools. Negative reactions, however, did not stop the Wrights. Impelled by their desire to succeed, they continued their experiments in aviation. Orville and Wilbur Wright had always had a compelling interest in aeronautics and mechanics. As young boys they earned money by making and selling kites and mechanical toys. Later, they designed a newspaper-folding machine, built a printing press, and operated a bicycle-repair shop. In 1896, when they read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, the brother's interest in flight grew into a compulsion. Lilienthal, a pioneer in hang-gliding, had controlled his gliders by shifting his body in the desired direction. This idea was repellent to the Wright brothers, however, and they searched for more efficient methods to control the balance of airborne vehicles. In 1900 and 1901, the Wrights tested numerous gliders and developed control techniques. The brothers' inability to obtain enough lift power for the gliders almost led them to abandon their efforts. After further study, the Wright brothers concluded that the published tables of air pressure on curved surfaces must be wrong. They set up a wind tunnel and began a series of experiments with model wings. Because of their efforts, the old tables were repealed in time and replaced by the first reliable figures for air pressure on curved surfaces. This work, in turn, made it possible for them to design a machine that would fly. In 1903 the Wrights built their first airplane, which cost less than one thousand dollars. They even designed and built their own source of propulsion- a lightweight gasoline engine. When they started the engine on December 17, the airplane puffed wildly before taking off. The plane managed to stay aloft for twelve seconds, however, and it flew one hundred twenty feet. By 1905 the Wrights had perfected the first airplane that could turn, circle, and remain airborne for half an hour at a time. Others had flown in balloons or in hang gliders, but the Wright brothers were the first to build a full-size machine that could fly under its own power. As the contributors of one of the most outstanding engineering achievements in history, the Wright brothers are accurately called the fathers of aviation.

Lilenthal's idea about controlling airborne vehicles was __________ the Wrights.

A. proven wrong by

B. opposite to the ideas of

C. disliked by

D. accepted by

E. opposed by

By the time Bentham turned his interest to the subject, late in the eighteenth century, most components of modern evidence law had been assembled. Among common-law doctrines regarding evidence there were, however, principles that today are regarded as bizarre; thus, a well-established (but now abandoned) rule forbade the parties to a case from testifying. Well into the nineteenth century, even defendants in criminal cases were denied the right to testify to facts that would prove their innocence.

Although extreme in its irrationality, this proscription was in other respects quite typical of the law of evidence. Much of that law consisted of rules excluding relevant evidence, usually on some rational grounds. Hearsay evidence was generally excluded because absent persons could not be cross-examined. Yet such evidence was mechanically excluded even where out-of-court statements were both relevant and reliable, but the absent persons could not appear in court (for example, because they were dead).

The morass of evidentiary technicalities often made it unlikely that the truth would emerge in a judicial contest, no matter how expensive and protracted. Reform was frustrated both by the vested interests of lawyers and by the profession's reverence for tradition and precedent. Bentham's prescription was revolutionary: virtually all evidence tending to prove or disprove the issue in dispute should be admissible. Narrow exceptions were envisioned: instances in which the trouble or expense of presenting or considering proof outweighed its value, confessions to a Catholic priest, and a few other instances.

One difficulty with Bentham's nonexclusion principle is that some kinds of evidence are inherently unreliable or misleading. Such was the argument underlying the exclusions of interested-party testimony and hearsay evidence. Bentham argued that the character of evidence should be weighed by the jury: the alternative was to prefer ignorance to knowledge. Yet some evidence, although relevant, is actually more likely to produce a false jury verdict than a true one. To use a modern example, evidence of a defendant's past bank robberies is excluded, since the prejudicial character of the evidence substantially outweighs its value in helping the jury decide correctly. Further, in granting exclusions such as sacramental confessions, Bentham conceded that competing social interests or values might override the desire for relevant evidence. But then, why not protect conversations between social workers and their clients, or parents and children?

Despite concerns such as these, the approach underlying modem evidence law began to prevail soon after Bentham's death: relevant evidence should be admitted unless there are clear grounds of policy for excluding it. This clear-grounds proviso allows more exclusions than Bentham would have liked, but the main thrust of the current outlook is Bentham's own nonexclusion principle, demoted from a rule to a presumption.

The passage is primarily concerned with which one of the following?

A. suggesting the advantages and limitations of a legal reform

B. summarizing certain deficiencies of an outmoded legal system

C. justifying the apparent inadequacies of current evidence law

D. detailing objections to the nonexclusion principle

E. advocating reexamination of a proposal that has been dismissed by the legal profession

A new bank has decided to stay open only on weekends - all day Saturday and Sunday - and no other

days. The bank has hired two managers (U and V), Four tellers (W,X,Y, and Z), and two operation officers

(S and T), for a total of exactly eight full-time employees.

No part-time employees are hired.

Each employee works a complete day when working.

A manager must be on duty each day.

The managers cannot work on the same day.

At least two tellers must be working on the same day.

W and X will not work on the same day.

S and Z will only work on Saturday.

No employee can work on consecutive days, but each employee must work on Saturday or Sunday.

If W works on Sunday, then which one of the following must be true?

A. X works on Saturday

B. Y works on Saturday

C. T works on Sunday

D. Z works on Sunday

E. U works on Sunday