December 2006 LSAT Section 3 Question 19

Style manual: Archaic spellings and styles of punctuation in direct quotations from older works are to be preserved ...

Lily on August 6, 2013

Style manual

Answer is D because contra positive of inf and ~int -> preserve Is Not preserve (modernize) -> ~inf or int So may modernize if both ~inf or int? E is not correct because it says modernize only one of similar instances ? Right?

Replies

Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

Naz on August 6, 2013

We know that if archaic spellings and styles of punctuations occur infrequently and do not interfere with a reader's comprehension, then they are to be preserved.

not F & not I - > P

Contrapositive:

not P - > F or I

The second principle: "if they occur frequently, the editor may modernize them..." is diagrammed like so:

F - > may not P

So we know that answer choice (A) is invalid because we do not know whether or not we are dealing with a modern work or an older work.

(B) is incorrect because it is not an obvious typographical error. It is an archaic spelling.

(C) is incorrect because we do not know if the archaic spelling is occurring frequently or infrequently.

(E) is incorrect because we have never discussed what happens when "only one" of several instances is modernized.

(D) is CORRECT because it invokes our second principle. We know the punctuation is occurring frequently, and therefore, we may modernize it.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Lily on August 6, 2013

Thank you ... So D because it restates
F ==> M

Mehran on August 7, 2013

Exactly. The second principle states "if they (i.e. archaic spellings and styles of punctuations in direct quotes from older works) occur frequently, the editor may modernize them."

Since "if" introduces sufficient, you would diagram the statement as follows:

F ==> M

(D) effectively says "if frequent, then the editor may modernize," which is a direct restatement of the second principle so it must follow logically.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Lily on August 8, 2013

Thank you!

Boram on January 13, 2019

Doesn't answer choice (d) have two sufficient conditions? It is saying that if punctuation occurs frequently and interferes with reader comprehension, then the author may modernize. So how can F -> may not P still be used for this answer choice when there's only one sufficient condition?