Free LSAT General Questions and Answers

Question 1

The common law is to statutes as __________ is to __________.

Accepted Answer

judge-made law : codified law

Answer

litigation : legislation

Answer

democracy : totalitarianism

Answer

English law : American law

Question 2

Clinician: A family of medications commonly used to treat immune system problems sadly raises the risk that the patient will develop osteoporosis, a condition that causes bone loss. These patients then take a different medication that aids in maintaining existing bone. These patients should take the new medication in addition to the medication that helps to retain existing bone because a medication that promotes the creation of new bone cells is now readily available.

Which one of the following would be most useful to know in order to evaluate the clinician’s argument?

Accepted Answer

To what extend does the new drug retain its efficacy when used in combination with the other drugs?

Answer

Why are immune system disorders treated with drugs that increase the risk of developing osteoporosis?

Answer

How large is the class of drugs that increase the risk of developing osteoporosis?

Answer

How long has the drug that helps to preserve existing bone been in use?

Answer

Is the new drug more expensive than the drug that helps to preserve existing bone?

Question 3

Economist: Every company aims to boost productivity since doing so boosts shareholders' earnings and the likelihood that the company will survive. However, not all initiatives to boost efficiency are advantageous to the company as a whole. Attempts to boost productivity frequently result in fewer personnel, which hurts both the morale of the kept employees and the fired employees.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the economist’s argument?

Accepted Answer

Some measures taken by a business to increase productivity fail to be beneficial to the business as a whole

Answer

There is no business that does not make efforts to increase its productivity.

Answer

Only if the employees of a business are also its owners will the interests of the employees and owners coincide, enabling measures that will be beneficial to the business as a whole.

Answer

Decreasing the number of employees in a business undermines the sense of security of retained employees.

Answer

If an action taken to secure the survival of a business fails to enhance the welfare of the business’s employees, that action cannot be good for the business as a whole.

Question 4

The majority of the university's Spanish 101 students showed up to each class session during the previous semester. However, every pupil who obtained a grade of B minus or lower missed at least one class period.

Which of the following claims regarding the university's Spanish 101 students from the previous semester may be correctly deduced from the facts above?

Accepted Answer

More than half of the students received a grade of B minus or higher

Answer

At least one student who received a grade of B minus or higher missed one or more class sessions.

Answer

Most of the students received a grade higher than B minus.

Answer

Most, if not all, of the students who missed at least one class session received a grade lower than B minus.

Answer

At least some of the students who received a grade of A minus or higher attended every class session.

Question 5

It's crucial to equally work the muscles on the opposing sides of the spine when working out the back muscles in order to maintain a healthy back. Since the muscles on either side of the spine must equally pull in opposite directions to keep the back in appropriate alignment and protect the spine, balanced muscle development is necessary to maintain a healthy back.

Which of the following is a presumption that the argument demands?

Accepted Answer

Exercising the muscles on opposite sides of the spine unequally tends to lead to unbalanced muscle development

Answer

Provided that one exercises the muscles on opposite sides of the spine equally, one will have a generally healthy back.

Answer

Muscles on opposite sides of the spine that are equally well developed will be enough to keep the back in proper alignment.

Answer

One should exercise daily to ensure that the muscles on opposite sides of the spine keep the back in proper alignment.

Answer

If the muscles on opposite sides of the spine are exercised unequally, one’s back will be irreparably damaged.

Question 6

Barrimore is the most qualified candidate for sheriff if Santos isn't. Barrimore will be elected if the most qualified candidate wins and Santos loses.

Which of the following justifications most closely resembles the justification in the previous argument?

Accepted Answer

If the lowest bidder on the sanitation contract is not Drillion, then it is Randall. So if the contract goes to the lowest bidder and it does not go to Drillion, then it will go to Randall.

Answer

If Kentin is not awarded the landscaping contract, then Jameson will be. So if the contract goes to te lowest bidder and it does not go to Jameson, then it will go to Kentin.

Answer

If the excavation contract does not go to the lowest bidder, then it will go to Carlston. So if Quinston gets the contract and Carlston does not, then the contract will have been awarded to the lowest bidder.

Answer

If Howard did not submit the lowest bid on the maintenance contract, then neither did Easton. So if the contract goes to the lowest bidder and it does not go to Easton, then it will fo to Howard either.

Answer

If Perry is not the lowest bidder on the catering contract then Santos is. So if Santos does not get the contract and Perry does not get it either, then it will not awarded to the lowest bidder.

Question 7

Anthony: By staying on the middle path at all times, one can lead a moderate existence. However, doing so results in a loss of the fun of spontaneity and a failure to seize the chances that periodically present themselves to people who are willing to take big risks or go too far.

Martha: However, a person who never takes a chance of going too far in the name of moderation is actually failing to live a life of moderation; one must be moderate even when exercising moderation.

Anthony and Martha disagree over

Accepted Answer

What life of moderation requires of a person

Answer

whether it is desirable for people occasionally to take great chances in life

Answer

how often a person ought to deviate from the middle course in life

Answer

whether it is desirable for people occasionally to take great chances in life

Answer

whether it is desirable for people to be moderately spontaneous

Question 8

Since the chairperson did not engage any other commission members over the release of the report before having it issued, the Election Commission's report should not have been made public.

The argument’s conclusion can be properly inferred if which one of the following is assumed?

Accepted Answer

It would have been permissible for the chairperson to release the commission's report to the public only if most other members of the commission had first given their consent

Answer

The chairperson would not have been justified in releasing the commission’s report if any members of the commission had serious reservations about the report’s content.

Answer

All of the members of the commission had signed the report prior to its release.

Answer

The chairperson would have been justified in releasing the report only if each of the commission’s members would have agreed to its being released had they been consulted.

Answer

Some members of the commission would have preferred that the report not be released to the public.

Question 9

Ethicist: Typically, grain-fed animals need to consume sixteen pounds of grain in order to produce one pound of meat. While sixteen pounds of grain could feed much more people than a pound of meat, a pound of grain is still more nutrient-dense for humans. Given the leveling off of grain yields, the annual loss of vast tracts of productive farmland, and the rapid growth of the human population, we must embrace the fact that eating meat will eventually become immoral.

Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the ethicist’s argument?

Accepted Answer

Often, cattle or sheep can be raised to maturity on grass from pastureland that is unsuitable for any other kind of farming

Answer

Even though it has been established that a vegetarian diet can be healthy, many people prefer to eat meat and are willing to pay for it.

Answer

Although prime farmland near metropolitan areas is being lost rapidly to suburban development, we could reverse this trend by choosing to live in areas that are already urban.

Answer

If a grain diet is supplemented with protein derived from non-animal sources, it can have nutritional value equivalent to that of a diet containing meat.

Answer

Nutritionists agree that a diet composed solely of grain products is not adequate for human health.

Question 10

Johnson's gas costs went up after he switched to a new, highly efficient, pilotless gas water heater to replace his old one.

Each of the following, if true, contributes to an explanation of the increase mentioned above EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

The new water heater uses a smaller percentage of the gas used by Johnson's household than did the old one.

Answer

After having done his laundry at a laundromat, Johnson bought and started using a gas dryer when he replaced his water heater.

Answer

Shortly after the new water heater was installed, Johnson’s uncle came to live with him, doubling the size of the household.

Answer

Unusually cold weather following installation of the new water heater resulted in heavy gas usage.

Answer

Johnson’s utility company raised the rates for gas consumption following the installation of the new water heater.