Flawed ReasoningDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: Educators think switching to year-round school with shorter breaks is better because kids won't forget everything over a long summer.
Conclusion: A twelve-month school schedule with three short breaks is better for academic learning than a nine-month schedule.
Reasoning: Students in nine-month schools forget a lot during the long summer break, and the new schedule would prevent this specific type of forgetting.
Analysis: The argument assumes that because a long break causes forgetting, shorter breaks won't cause any forgetting at all. It ignores the possibility that students might still forget things during those one-month breaks, or that the cumulative forgetting across three breaks might be just as bad. Look for a flaw that points out the assumption that shorter breaks solve the forgetting problem entirely. It's a classic 'all-or-nothing' error regarding the duration of the breaks.
Conclusion: A twelve-month school schedule with three short breaks is better for academic learning than a nine-month schedule.
Reasoning: Students in nine-month schools forget a lot during the long summer break, and the new schedule would prevent this specific type of forgetting.
Analysis: The argument assumes that because a long break causes forgetting, shorter breaks won't cause any forgetting at all. It ignores the possibility that students might still forget things during those one-month breaks, or that the cumulative forgetting across three breaks might be just as bad. Look for a flaw that points out the assumption that shorter breaks solve the forgetting problem entirely. It's a classic 'all-or-nothing' error regarding the duration of the breaks.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage9.The reasoning above is most vulnerable to the criticism that it
Correct Answer
C
It identifies the core flaw: in comparing the two schedules, the argument assumes the undesirable result (forgetting) is tied only to the nine-month schedule’s break and will not occur under the twelve-month schedule. That’s exactly the unsupported jump from “forgetting happens over a long summer” to “shorter breaks will prevent forgetting.”
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