#22 - Under the influence of today’s computer-oriented culture, publishing for children has taken

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (B).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[PresidentLSAT]

Hi Powerscore,

I want to take a swing at the question to assess if my reasoning is correct.

The stimulus tells us that publishing for children has taken a new direction—flashy graphics and illustrations —in today's computer-oriented culture

This new direction has produced a lack of substance in these books, which in turn have produced books that lack longevity (covering mainly trendy topics)

This change, also includes more humorous materials, simplification of materials, and a narrower focus on topics

There isn't any conclusion here so I will start hunting for the correct answer choice:

a. This was too strong for me. The author attributes the lack of substance to the emphasis on illustration and graphic design. More Humorous context was mentioned as an additional characteristic.

b. This was the closest match because it doesn't explicitly say that the lack of substance is the reason these books do not last. It takes a softer approach that can be easily supported, because this new direction, which has a substance issue is producing books that are short-lived.

c. There was no mention of children's ability to concentrate and this new direction may be solely driven by profit motives. We don't know.

d. Two things wrong with this: the judgment criteria of children aren't mentioned and we don't have enough information to make such an inference. The "primary" basis is also concerning because nothing of the sort is mentioned.

e. Popularity here is also a new concept that was not introduced in the stimulus. If "popularity" were switched with "longevity," it would give us the opposite of what is supported in the stimulus because the lack of substance is likely to be important to its longevity.

[Jeff Wren]

Hi PresidentLSAT,

Overall, your analysis looks really good.

As you recognized, Answer A attempts to mix two unrelated ideas in the stimulus. This is a common feature of many wrong answers in Must Be True/Most Strongly Supported questions.

For Answer B, the stimulus does actually say that the lack of substance is the reason these books do not last. The stimulus states that "the resulting lack of substance leads to books that are short-lived items" (my emphasis). The words "leads to" indicate causality and are on the list of causal indicator words in "The Logical Reasoning Bible."

Since a lack of substance causes children's books to be short-lived, it follows that the substance of a children's book is important to the book's longevity.