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LSAT: Logical Reasoning Question #3

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Bruce: Almost a century ago, country X annexed its neighbor's western province, clearly an unjust act. It is the obligation of country X to return the province to its former possessors, even if doing so would involve great sacrifice on the part of those citizens of country X who are currently living within that province.

Linda: A nation's paramount responsibility is the well-being of its own citizens. Country X should make the sacrifice of returning the province only if it can be sure that such an act will provide some tangible benefit to the citizens of country X. The issue of whether the original annexation was just is a secondary consideration.

Question: To which of the following questions would Bruce and Linda give oppposing answers?

Choices:
A. Can the original annexation of the neighboring nation's western province accurately be characterized as an unjust act?
B. Would the return of the annexed province to its original possessors involve appreciable sacrifice on the part of the citizens of country X?
C. Would the return of the annexed province to its original possessors confer any benefit on the citizens of country X?
D. Should the citizens of country X who are currently living in the annexed province be consulted in deciding whether or not to return the province to its original possessors?
E. Does country X have the obligation to redress an historic injustice at the risk of providing no benefit to its own citizens?



Sometimes the LSAT will give you two questions relating to the same situation. Here we're asked for a question that Bruce and Linda would answer differently. Your best approach is to take each question in turn, and speculate as to how each debater would respond to it.

(A) Bruce would reply with a definite Yes, but Linda's claim that the injustice issue is "secondary" cannot be read as any kind of a No. She may well agree that the original annexation was unjust, but still cares more about the effect on today's citizens of reversing that act.

(B) Linda seems to believe that the answer here is Yes, but Bruce's phrase "Even if" takes this issue off the table: He doesn't care whether the answer is Yes or No, because he wants the province returned regardless. Since Bruce and Linda could agree on a Yes answer to both (A) and (B), both choices are incorrect.

(C) Linda would certainly want this question answered before agreeing to return the province, but she never indicates what she thinks the answer would be. Bruce, meanwhile, shows no interest in the issue so cannot be said to have a position on it.

(D), like (B), is an issue that Bruce, who is most concerned with redressing past wrongs, takes no position on. And we can't be sure whether Linda would agree or disagree, since she never indicates how the "tangible benefit" of returning the province would be determined.

(E) Bruce clearly believes that the answer is Yes; Linda, who sees tangible benefits to citizens as a precondition for redress, just as clearly says No. This is exactly what the test-makers are looking for.
 

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