December 2014 LSAT Section 4 Question 25

Of the citizens who disapprove of the prime minister's overall job performance, most disapprove because of the prime ...

Eugenia-Ouyang on November 20, 2019

Timing advice

I am having trouble with answering parallel questions within the time limit since both the passage and answers are kind of long. I was wondering if someone can provide me with some advice as to how I tackle this problem. Thank you.

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Irina on November 21, 2019

@Eugenia-Ouyang,

Thank you for your question. Since parallel reasoning often focuses on the structure of the argument rather than substance, it is often helpful to reduce the argument to its logical form. For this argument, I would think about it as:

Most disapprove of X because of Y. T approves Y so she must approve X.

Compare to to the answer choices:

(A) Most support X because of Y. A opposes/ disagrees with Y so he must oppose X.

Most support limited logging because of reduced fire risk. A disagrees there is a reduced fire risk so she must oppose limited logging.

This argument structure is identical to the stimulus. On a real test, I would mark (A) as the correct answer and move on to the next question.

(B) Most expect X also think Y. B does not expect X so she probably disagrees with Y.

Most expect population increase also think it is a good reason to build a school. B does not expect population increase so she must oppose the new school.

The form of this argument is different from the stimulus. Rather than saying most do X because of Y, it argues that most X also do Y.

(C) Most believe X because of Y. C does not believe X so he does not believe Y.

Most believe economy is improved because their financial position has improved. C believes the economy worsened so he believes his financial position has worsened.

This argument starts similar to the stimulus but the second premise/ conclusion are reversed.

(D) Most oppose X also support Y. D opposes X so she must support Y.

Most oppose the study also support freeway. D opposes the study, so she must support freeway.

The form of this argument is entirely different from the stimulus.

(E) Most believe X because of Y. E believes X so he must be aware of Y.

Most believe there is a blizzard because of the news report. E believes there is a blizzard so he must have seen the news report.

This argument starts similar to the stimulus, but the second premise/ conclusion are reversed.