Flawed Parallel ReasoningDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: If you're a happy book, you'll be a hit. Since these scary books aren't happy, they probably won't be hits.
Conclusion: Gloomy books predicting terrifying times are unlikely to be very popular.
Reasoning: Utopian books are always popular; gloomy books are not utopian; therefore, gloomy books will not be popular.
Analysis: The flaw here is an 'Inverse Error' or 'Negating the Antecedent.' The author says 'If Utopian, then Popular.' They then observe 'Not Utopian' and conclude 'Not Popular.' This is logically invalid because there could be many other reasons a book becomes popular (like being a thrilling horror novel). To match this, look for an answer choice that follows the structure: 'If A, then B; this thing is not A; therefore, this thing is not B.' We need to find that same 'all-or-nothing' logic applied to a different subject.
Conclusion: Gloomy books predicting terrifying times are unlikely to be very popular.
Reasoning: Utopian books are always popular; gloomy books are not utopian; therefore, gloomy books will not be popular.
Analysis: The flaw here is an 'Inverse Error' or 'Negating the Antecedent.' The author says 'If Utopian, then Popular.' They then observe 'Not Utopian' and conclude 'Not Popular.' This is logically invalid because there could be many other reasons a book becomes popular (like being a thrilling horror novel). To match this, look for an answer choice that follows the structure: 'If A, then B; this thing is not A; therefore, this thing is not B.' We need to find that same 'all-or-nothing' logic applied to a different subject.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage24.The questionable pattern of reasoning in which one of the following arguments is most similar to that in the argument above?
Correct Answer
C
Correct. It mirrors the flaw: from “having special-effects scenes → enormously expensive” to “no such scenes → probably inexpensive,” the same invalid inversion as “utopian → popular” to “not utopian → probably not popular.”
Upgrade Your Prep
Ready to go beyond free explanations?
LSAT Perfection is the #1 modern LSAT prep platform, trusted by thousands of students for comprehensive test strategies, advanced drilling, and full analytics on every PrepTest.
Detailed explanations for 59 PrepTests
Advanced drillset builder
Personalized analytics
Built-in Wrong Answer Journal