LSAT Explanation PT 27, S4, Q14: In 1712 the government of Country

LSAT Question Stem

If the statements in the passage are true, which one of the following can be properly concluded from them? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Must Be True question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is C. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first analyze the passage and break it down into simpler terms. In 1712, Country Y's government appointed a censor to prohibit the publication of any book critical of the government. Under the first censor, one half of the book manuscripts submitted were not approved for publication. Under the second censor, only one quarter of the book manuscripts submitted were not approved, but the number of book manuscripts that were approved was the same under both censors.

To better understand the passage, let's use a hypothetical example:

First censor: 100 books submitted, 50% approved (50 books), 50% not approved (50 books)

Second censor: X books submitted, 75% approved (50 books), 25% not approved (X/4 books)

The question type is a Must Be True (MBT) question. We need to identify which answer choice can be properly concluded from the information given in the passage.

a) We cannot conclude that more books critical of Country Y's government were published before the appointment of the first censor than after it. The passage doesn't provide information about the number of critical books published before the first censor.

b) We cannot conclude that the first and second censor prohibited the publication of the same number of book manuscripts. The passage only states that the number of approved manuscripts was the same, not the number of prohibited manuscripts.

c) Correct answer. We can conclude that more book manuscripts were submitted for approval to the first censor than to the second. Since both censors approved the same number of books, but the second censor approved a higher percentage (75% compared to 50%), it means fewer manuscripts were submitted to the second censor.

d) We cannot conclude that the second censor allowed some book manuscripts to be published that the first censor would have considered critical of Country Y's government. The passage doesn't provide information about the content of the manuscripts or the criteria used by the censors.

e) We cannot conclude that the number of writers who wrote unpublished manuscripts was greater under the first censor than under the second. The passage doesn't provide information about the number of writers or unpublished manuscripts.

So, the correct answer is C. More book manuscripts were submitted for approval to the first censor than to the second, as concluded from the information provided in the passage.