Q10 - Editorial: Many critics of consumerism

[hyewonkim89]

I picked (A) and ended up changing my answer to (E) when I got to (E).

Will someone explain why (A) is better than (E)?

[LSATeater]

Since you had it down to A and E, you already realize that the conclusion of the editorial is in the second sentence. Great!

E is wrong because in the stimulus we are simply told that "many" critics insist advertising persuades people to "blah blah blah" and that this "blah blah blah" rests on a fuzzy distinction. We are not told how frequently the critics use fuzzy distinctions just that SOME did in this, for all we know, one particular situation the editorial is criticizing. Answer choice E extends the author's views too far.

Furthermore, the second sentence is about the accusation resting on a fuzzy distinction which choice A captures. Answer choice A is all about the distinction (separate from the critics blurring of it) and that is the essence of the second sentence.

[tommywallach]

Hey Hye,

Good points from LSATeater here. The problem is that (E) says these critics "often" use fuzzy distinctions to support "their claims." This implies that they do the same thing with other claims, but this argument is only about a specific claim.

-t

[JulianaT404]

I arrived at A upon my first go and didn't feel confident upon second review and chose B, which I now know is incorrect. Can someone elaborate as to why B is incorrect? Is it that is states "attempts to blur" when that is more of an inference than what is started in the stimulus?

[allenkw90]

I arrived at A upon my first go and didn't feel confident upon second review and chose B, which I now know is incorrect. Can someone elaborate as to why B is incorrect? Is it that is states "attempts to blur" when that is more of an inference than what is started in the stimulus?

B is a premise that the conclusion ultimately refutes, by stating that the critics' claim "rests on a fuzzy distinction". So B is wrong because it's the premise, not the conclusion of the stimulus.