Practice Quiz

LSAT

Category - Logical Reasoning

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Mark was always careful to use premium gasoline in his new car. But since Mark’s car was not designed for the blend of fuel in premium gasoline, Mark ended up damaging the engine of his car. Therefore Mark intended to damage his car.

Which one of the following arguments exhibits a flawed pattern of reasoning most similar to the flawed reasoning in the original passage?
  1. Jason won a computer in a raffle and then sold the computer for $500. Jason therefore really won $500 in the raffle.
  2. Marla is sure that cocoa is grown in Ghana, and that Ghana has a hot climate, so Marla knows that cocoa is grown in a hot climate.
  3. A lightning strike caused the house to catch on fire, and the fire caused the deaths of three people. The lightning strike therefore killed three people.
  4. Supermart stopped carrying Elizabeth’s favorite kind of frozen pizza, so Elizabeth stopped shopping there. Supermart was intentionally trying to lose Elizabeth as a customer.
  5. The snowstorm knocked out electricity for five days, and whatever knocks out the electricity is responsible for the school district’s closure, so the snowstorm is responsible for closing the schools.
Explanation
Answer: D - The argument exhibiting a flawed pattern of reasoning most similar to the original passage is answer D. The original passage claims that because Mark’s fuel use caused damage to his engine, that Mark must have intended for the damage to happen. In more general terms, the argument claims that an unintended or incidental consequence must be an intentional consequence if it is a direct consequence. Answer D is similar in reasoning.
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