#3 - An instructor presented two paintings to a class. She

[glasann]

Hello - I got this one right by choosing the answer that kind of just "felt" the most right, but as I review these I'm having trouble pin-pointing my process around WHY this particular one is right.

Can you please tell me if my process on these answer choices is the right one?

A - felt a little too strong. We also can't really say they wouldn't like ANY work produced by an unknown amateur since it was just one painting. Also stimulus isn't saying they definitely don't like the one presumed to be by the unknown amateur, just that they liked the one presumed to be from the museum MORE.

B - just no

C - too strong

D - what got me a little and made me hesitate was the word "some" since the stimulus actually states that it was "everyone." However I suppose that on the LSAT "some" could mean 100% or everyone.

E - seemed attractive at first but I think we just don't know that.. going too far.


Is this thought process right? thank you!

[Adam Tyson]

Perfect! And yes, "some" includes all. More importantly, though, is that we cannot know that they were all influenced by what the teacher told them. Maybe some of them came to their own decisions and felt no pressure based on what the teacher said? Maybe some of them completely ignored what the teacher said? But it sure seems like at least some of them were influenced, and probably a lot of them, because otherwise that outcome would be highly unlikely. An "all" answer would be too strong here, even though all the students claimed to share the same opinion as each other.

[CJ12345:]

Hi, Powerscore,
I eliminated D because I was not sure what "the history of the paintings" refers to. It might refer to the origin of the painting (museum vs. unknown amateur) or not. I tend to be thrown off by these ambitious words in AC. Are there any suggestions? How can I be sure that these words are not determinant of the correctness of AC?

Thanks

[Jeff Wren]

Hi CJ,

In Answer D, it states that "some of the students had been affected by what they had been told about the history of the paintings."

The key words in this answer are "what they were told about" the history of the paintings. To check what exactly the students were told about the history of the paintings, we need to refer back to the wording in the stimulus.

All that we know about what the students were told about the paintings is that one painting had hung in a prestigious museum and one painting was painted by an unknown amateur. This is the "history" to which this answer refers.

One very helpful way to avoid getting thrown off by words that you aren't expecting in an answer is to prephrase. Before looking at the answers themselves, take a few seconds to come up with your own answer in your own words.

In other words, what does the stimulus seem to be showing? Well, it seems to show that students are influenced by what they are told about a painting since the students all chose the painting that they believed was in the prestigious museum as the better painting.

This prephrase should be enough to identify Answer D as the correct answer since it is the only answer that gets at this idea and to eliminate the other answers.

The key to understanding most of the tricky words on the LSAT is reading for context. Here, the history that the students were told just means the background information (hung in museum or painted by amateur) mentioned in the stimulus.