LNAT Inference Skills 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A court finds that a defendant is liable only if she owed a duty of care and breached it. She owed a duty but did not breach it. What follows?
- She is liable because she owed a duty
- She is not liable because both conditions are not met (Correct answer)
- She may or may not be liable depending on harm
- She is liable only if harm resulted
Correct answer: She is not liable because both conditions are not met
Liability requires both conditions; without breach, the conjunctive test fails even if duty exists.
Question 2: A politician says: 'Everyone who opposes this bill hates our country.' A critic responds that this is a false dichotomy. The critic is correct if:
- It is possible to oppose the bill without hating the country (Correct answer)
- The politician's conclusion is unpopular
- The bill would not help the country
- People who oppose bills are usually unpatriotic
Correct answer: It is possible to oppose the bill without hating the country
A false dichotomy presents two options as exhaustive when other possibilities exist; opposition motivated by policy disagreement refutes the claim.
Question 3: A survey shows 80% of judges who attended elite law schools rule in favor of corporations more often. A reformer concludes elite schools bias judges. Which inference is better supported?
- Elite schools deliberately teach pro-corporate values
- There is a correlation that warrants further investigation but does not prove bias (Correct answer)
- All elite-school judges are biased
- The survey definitively proves institutional bias
Correct answer: There is a correlation that warrants further investigation but does not prove bias
Correlational survey data warrants investigation but cannot alone establish the mechanism or prove causal bias.
Question 4: Passage: 'If the defendant knew the goods were stolen, she is guilty of handling stolen property. She claims she did not know.' What can be inferred about her guilt?
- She is not guilty because she claims ignorance
- Her guilt depends on whether her claim of ignorance is believed (Correct answer)
- She is guilty because she handled the goods
- She is not guilty because knowledge is irrelevant
Correct answer: Her guilt depends on whether her claim of ignorance is believed
The defendant's guilt turns on the factual question of whether she actually knew, which her claim alone does not resolve.
Question 5: A scientist argues: 'This drug worked in 90% of trials, so it will work for this patient.' The weakest part of this inference is:
- The trial percentage is too low to be meaningful
- Population-level statistics may not predict outcomes for a specific individual (Correct answer)
- Drug trials are never conducted rigorously
- The patient was not in the trial group
Correct answer: Population-level statistics may not predict outcomes for a specific individual
Statistical averages describe groups; applying them to individuals commits the ecological fallacy.
Question 6: A company policy states: 'Employees may take personal days only with advance notice.' An employee takes a personal day after calling in that morning. Which inference is most accurate?
- The employee followed the policy because she gave notice
- The employee may have violated the policy because morning notice may not qualify as 'advance' (Correct answer)
- The policy is ambiguous and therefore unenforceable
- The employee is entitled to the day because emergencies are exempt
Correct answer: The employee may have violated the policy because morning notice may not qualify as 'advance'
'Advance notice' typically implies prior notice, making same-day notification potentially non-compliant.
Question 7: Passage: 'Most accidents on this road occur between 5 and 7 pm.' A driver infers the road is safest at 2 pm. This inference is:
- Definitely correct because 2 pm is outside peak hours
- Reasonable but possibly flawed if other peak times exist or traffic volume differs (Correct answer)
- Incorrect because accident rates are uniform throughout the day
- Invalid because the passage only discusses weekday accidents
Correct answer: Reasonable but possibly flawed if other peak times exist or traffic volume differs
The passage only identifies one high-risk period; 2 pm may be safer than 5–7 pm but could still carry risks not mentioned.
LNAT Inference Skills 4
A court finds that a defendant is liable only if she owed a duty of care and breached it.
She owed a duty but did not breach it.
What follows?