LNAT Technical Skills & Application 4

Question 1

In the context of LNAT argument analysis, a 'straw man' fallacy occurs when:

Accepted Answer

An opponent's position is misrepresented to make it easier to attack

Answer

The straw man fallacy involves distorting or exaggerating an opposing argument so it can be more easily refuted.

Question 2

A researcher wants to determine whether a new drug reduces blood pressure. She randomly assigns 500 patients to receive the drug and 500 to receive a placebo. This design is best described as:

Accepted Answer

A randomized controlled trial

Answer

Random assignment to treatment and control groups defines a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard for causal inference.

Question 3

A passage asserts: 'No one has proved that free trade harms domestic workers, so it must be beneficial.' This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Appeal to ignorance (argument from ignorance)

Answer

An appeal to ignorance treats the absence of disproof as positive proof of the opposite claim.

Question 4

Under the rule in Pepper v Hart [1993], courts may refer to Hansard when:

Accepted Answer

The statutory provision is ambiguous and the ministerial statement clearly covers the point

Answer

Pepper v Hart allows reference to Hansard only where the statutory language is ambiguous and there is a clear ministerial statement addressing the ambiguity.

Question 5

An argument proceeds: 'Crime fell after the new policy was introduced. Therefore the policy caused the reduction in crime.' This reasoning is vulnerable to which objection?

Accepted Answer

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

Answer

Post hoc ergo propter hoc ('after this, therefore because of this') wrongly infers causation from temporal sequence alone.

LNAT Practice Test

LNAT Practice Test

LNAT Technical Skills & Application 4