LSAT problem again

[blipblop]

Columnist: Geprge Orwell's book 1984 has exercised much influence on a great number of this newspaper's readers. One thousand readers were surveyed and asked to name the one book that had the most influence on their lives. The book chosen most often was the Bible; 1984 was second.

The answer to which one of the following questions would most help in evaluating the columinist's argument?

A) How many books had each person surveyed read?
B) How many people chose books other than 1984?
C) How many people read the columnist's newspaper?
D) How many books by George Orwell other than 1984 was chosen?
E) How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?

The answer is B. My reasoning is that since the columnists conclusion says that it 194 exercised much influece, by showing how many ppl chose books other than 1984, it would prove that it did have much influece. Is this correct? Thanks.

 

[JLGatsby]

A and B are the only legit answers, other 3 are just fillers.

So it's one of the two. I would say B also.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

E

 

[blipblop]

yea, i narrowed it down to those two, how does your reasoning behind it go though?

 

[JLGatsby]

Originally posted by: blipblop
yea, i narrowed it down to those two, how does your reasoning behind it go though?

A just sounds like a ridiculous question, albeit less ridiculous than the last 3.

I just cannot see such a question in survey, just doesn't seem like a good way to judge popularity.

 

[Epic Fail]

F) One of the above

 

[Whisper]

I'd probably go with B as well. I guess you could also consider E to rule out random guessing, but even then, if someone selected 1984 (and apparently enough people did to make it the #2 choice), then it technically influenced them. Besides, the statement doesn't say that the newspaper's readers had read 1984, just that it had influenced them.

B also encompasses response D, and while D is more specific, I wouldn't see how the information gained from it over B would be helpful to supporting the columnist's statement.

But I never took the LSAT, so who knows.

Edit: and just to address the other responses...

C is fairly irrelevant, since the columnist makes no claims regarding anyone beyond the newspaper's readers.

As far as A, I can't see how that would really help or hurt the argument. How many books each person had read doesn't necessarily affect how influenced they are by any one particular book.

 

[ScottFern]

misread the question. nm.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

A) Doesn't matter: If they've read one book or a million the question is still which book was the most influential.

B) This is the answer. The contention is that 1984 was influential to "a great number" of the news paper's readers. If the Bible was #1 with three votes and 1984 was #2 with 2 votes and there were 995 other books listed in the survey then then the contention is destroyed. Knowing how many other books were listed would be important information.

C) Doesn't matter. His contention only applies to people who read that news paper.

D) Too Specific. Answer B is similar but greater in scope.

E) Books don't have to be read to be influential. How many people have actually read the Bible from front to back? Yet it still influences billions.

 

[aphex]

Its amazing how little the LSAT has to do with anything.

 

[Whisper]

Originally posted by: aphex
Its amazing how little the LSAT has to do with anything.

I could see general skills in reasoning and logic being pretty useful in just about any facet of life.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Whisper

Originally posted by: aphex
Its amazing how little the LSAT has to do with anything.

I could see general skills in reasoning and logic being pretty useful in just about any facet of life.

Yes, but having made it through 3 years of law school, the LSAT, to me at least, proved to be a very poor test for entry.

 

[Whisper]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Whisper

Originally posted by: aphex
Its amazing how little the LSAT has to do with anything.

I could see general skills in reasoning and logic being pretty useful in just about any facet of life.

Yes, but having made it through 3 years of law school, the LSAT, to me at least, proved to be a very poor test for entry.

Most entry exams could be seen the same way. It's really just a matter of finding something that's highly standardized and yet still at least somewhat applicable to the program of interest.

I'm sure the LSAT is a bit more relevant than would be a GRE or GMAT, but I've only taken one of them, so I can't say with absolute certainty.

 

[warbean]

In law school now.

Believe it or not I believe LSAT skills are very relevant here. Even the logic games.

 

[axelfox]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Whisper

Originally posted by: aphex
Its amazing how little the LSAT has to do with anything.

I could see general skills in reasoning and logic being pretty useful in just about any facet of life.

Yes, but having made it through 3 years of law school, the LSAT, to me at least, proved to be a very poor test for entry.

QFT.

Passed the bar first time though.

 

[mrchan]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
A) Doesn't matter: If they've read one book or a million the question is still which book was the most influential.

B) This is the answer. The contention is that 1984 was influential to "a great number" of the news paper's readers. If the Bible was #1 with three votes and 1984 was #2 with 2 votes and there were 995 other books listed in the survey then then the contention is destroyed. Knowing how many other books were listed would be important information.

C) Doesn't matter. His contention only applies to people who read that news paper.

D) Too Specific. Answer B is similar but greater in scope.

E) Books don't have to be read to be influential. How many people have actually read the Bible from front to back? Yet it still influences billions.

He's right. Except the reasoning for D is simply other books by Orwell is completely irrelevant to the question.

BTW, the LSAT isn't like the SATs. LSAT is actually a pretty good predictor of how well you do in law school. That's not to say it's a good predictor of how well you perform as a lawyer though.