LSAT Explanation PT 30, S4, Q12: The television show Henry was not

LSAT Question Stem

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Strengthen question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is C. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first analyze the argument in the passage. The author presents the following premises:

1. The television show Henry was not widely watched until it was scheduled for Tuesday evenings immediately after That's Life, the most popular show on television.

2. During the year after the move, Henry was consistently one of the ten most-watched shows on television.

3. Since Henry's recent move to Wednesday evenings, it has been watched by far fewer people.

Based on these premises, the author concludes that Henry was widely watched before the move to Wednesday evenings because it followed That's Life and not because people especially liked it. This is a causal argument, suggesting that the popularity of That's Life caused the increase in viewership for Henry.

Now, let's create an "Evaluate" question for this argument: "Is there any other factor, aside from following That's Life, that could have caused the increase in viewership for Henry?"

The question type for this problem is Strengthen, which means we're looking for an answer choice that provides additional support for the conclusion.

Let's discuss each answer choice:

a) Henry has been on the air for three years, but That's Life has been on the air for only two years.

- This answer choice provides information about the duration of the shows, but it doesn't strengthen the causal relationship between the popularity of That's Life and the increased viewership of Henry. It's not relevant to the argument.

b) The show that replaced Henry on Tuesdays has persistently had a low number of viewers in the Tuesday time slot.

- This answer choice actually weakens the argument by suggesting that the Tuesday time slot itself might not be the cause of increased viewership. It doesn't provide support for the conclusion.

c) The show that now follows That's Life on Tuesdays has double the number of viewers it had before being moved.

- This answer choice strengthens the argument by showing a pattern: when a show follows That's Life, its viewership increases significantly. This supports the idea that the popularity of That's Life is the cause of the increased viewership for Henry.

d) After its recent move to Wednesday, Henry was aired at the same time as the second most popular show on television.

- This answer choice provides an alternative explanation for the decline in viewership of Henry after moving to Wednesday, suggesting that it's because of the competition with the second most popular show. It doesn't strengthen the argument that the popularity of That's Life caused the increase in viewership for Henry.

e) That's Life was not widely watched during the first year it was aired.

- This answer choice provides information about the initial viewership of That's Life, but it doesn't strengthen the causal relationship between the popularity of That's Life and the increased viewership of Henry. It's not relevant to the argument.

Based on this analysis, the correct answer is C. It provides additional support for the conclusion by showing a pattern of increased viewership for shows that follow That's Life, which strengthens the argument that the popularity of That's Life caused the increase in viewership for Henry.