LSAT and Law School Admissions Forum

Get expert LSAT preparation and law school admissions advice from PowerScore Test Preparation.

 Administrator
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 8950
  • Joined: Feb 02, 2011
|
#23208
Complete Question Explanation

Parallel Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)

Because insomnia can result from thoughts that arise in either half of the brain, the author advocates adopting a strategy (counting sheep) that will eliminate the possibility of either cause producing the undesired effect (insomnia).

Answer choice (A): The conclusion test can quickly eliminate this answer choice, since the argument in the stimulus does not advocate adopting one or another of two strategies instead of a third. This answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. Just as insomnia can be the product of thoughts arising in either half of the brain, furniture damage can result from either cats' claws or their teeth. In both arguments, the proposed solution (counting sheep, toy mice) eliminates both potential causes of the problem.

Answer choice (C): The conclusion in this answer choice suggests that there are two ways of accomplishing the same goal (going to Centreville), not that there is a singular way of solving two distinct problems (which is the argument in the stimulus). The conclusion test is a quick way to prove that answer choice (C) is incorrect.

Answer choice (D): Storing both chemicals separately does not eliminate two potential causes of a given undesirable effect, but only one — the risk of explosion.

Answer choice (E): As with answer choice (A), the conclusion test can quickly eliminate this answer choice as well, since the stimulus does not advocate adopting one strategy over another.
 Curtis1992
  • Posts: 10
  • Joined: Dec 05, 2016
|
#42112
Hello Powerscore,

I just went over question 5 of page 8-52 of the online course. When I initially approached the problem, I immediately keyed in on answer choice B because it somewhat matched my prephrase that in order to prevent a certain result, two actions need to be taken to prevent such a result. I was certain I was right but I wanted to go about practicing the concepts covered in your course material so I honed in on the conclusion and ultimately decided that the strength of the stimulus conclusion ("should") was not the same as the strength of answer choice B ("can"). Moreover, am I missing something?

Curtis Thomas
 Claire Horan
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 408
  • Joined: Apr 18, 2016
|
#42182
Hi Curtis,

Good news! I don't think you were confused at all—it just looks like you misread "would" as "should." The stimulus conclusion says
"would be able to fall asleep," and "be able to" matches perfectly with answer choice B's conclusion of "can be prevented."

Happy studying!
 rwraulynaitis
  • Posts: 27
  • Joined: May 06, 2020
|
#75930
Hello,

This question brings up a question of mine regarding terms like, "should," would," and "could" in Parallel Reasoning questions.

When approaching these questions, my personal go-to is applying the "Parallel the Conclusion" technique and matching the force of the conclusion in the stimulus to the force of each of the answer choices. However, I am not clear on what the force of words like "should," would," and "could" are. Do these terms match the force of absolutes like "will" and "must," or are they more probabilistic like "may" and "probably"?

For example, in this question, I was not sure if I could eliminate answer choice (E) because of the word "will."

Thanks!
User avatar
 KelseyWoods
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 1079
  • Joined: Jun 26, 2013
|
#76045
Hi rwaulynaitis!

No, I wouldn't eliminate answer choice (E) just because of the word "will." Focus on matching the certainty of the language, rather than matching specific terms. Also, remember to consider the context of the terms as well, as that can change their meaning/degree of certainty, etc. "Would" is generally more certain than something like "could," which generally indicates that something is possible. "Should" is usually used for a recommendation of some sort, though could also be used in other contexts. So rather than getting too hung up on the specific words, think about the greater context, the level of certainty, and the types of statements being made in the premises and the conclusion.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

Get the most out of your LSAT Prep Plus subscription.

Analyze and track your performance with our Testing and Analytics Package.