Practice Quiz

LSAT

Category - Logical Reasoning

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Donna: “Every year, many people die due to carbon monoxide poisoning in their homes. A carbon monoxide detector can detect harmful levels of the gas and alert people before it is too late. Every home should be required to have a carbon monoxide detector because it would save lives.”

Tom: “That is ridiculous. We cannot mandate that every person install a carbon monoxide detector. We cannot prevent every tragedy and besides, more people die every year from smoke inhalation than carbon monoxide.”

Tom’s response to Donna is flawed because it
  1. Uses an ad hominem attack instead of attacking the substance of Donna’s argument.
  2. Attacks only the reasoning behind Donna’s argument but not her conclusion.
  3. Uses an improper comparison by comparing carbon monoxide detectors to smoke detectors.
  4. Disagrees with the premise of the argument, but not the principle behind it.
  5. Claims that because the problem Donna proposes to fix is not the largest problem and is not completely fixable, her argument is completely without merit.
Explanation
Answer: E - Tom’s response to Donna is flawed because it claims that because the problem Donna proposes to fix is not the largest problem, her argument is completely without merit. Tom attacks Donna’s argument by pointing out that not every tragedy can be prevented and that smoke inhalation is a larger problem than carbon monoxide. These criticisms address the scope of the problem Donna raises, but do not actually criticize her proposal.
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