LNAT Inference Skills 5

Question 1

A passage states that freedom of speech protects unpopular opinions. A student concludes it therefore protects all speech without exception. This inference is:

Accepted Answer

Invalid because protecting unpopular opinions does not mean there are no limits

Answer

Protecting a category of speech does not eliminate all possible limits; the inference over-extends the passage's claim.

Question 2

A judge rules that a defendant's prior conviction is inadmissible. The prosecutor argues the jury should still consider it. The prosecutor's argument is:

Accepted Answer

Invalid because an inadmissibility ruling legally bars the evidence from consideration

Answer

Once a judge rules evidence inadmissible, it cannot legally be put before or considered by the jury.

Question 3

Passage: 'Countries with stricter gun laws tend to have fewer gun deaths.' A commentator concludes that strict gun laws cause fewer gun deaths. Which response best challenges this?

Accepted Answer

Stricter laws and fewer deaths may both result from underlying cultural factors

Answer

A third variable—such as cultural attitudes toward violence—could explain both strict laws and fewer deaths without one causing the other.

Question 4

A legislator says: 'We should ban X because it has not been proven safe.' The logical problem with this argument is:

Accepted Answer

It shifts the burden of proof: absence of safety proof is not proof of danger

Answer

Requiring proof of safety rather than proof of danger reverses the standard burden of proof.

Question 5

Two witnesses give contradictory accounts of the same event. A juror concludes that both must be lying. This inference is:

Accepted Answer

Flawed because contradiction is also consistent with honest error or differing perspectives

Answer

Contradictory accounts can arise from honest mistakes, perception differences, or memory failures, not only from lying.

LNAT Practice Test

LNAT Practice Test

LNAT Inference Skills 5