PrepTest 150, Section 3, Question 20
History student: It is unfair for the History(81 more words not shown)
The dialogue provides most support(12 more words not shown)
- Aresearch papers written(16 more words not shown)
- Bprohibiting a certain(21 more words not shown)
- Ccensorship of the(12 more words not shown)
- Dsources that are(13 more words not shown)
- Estudents should be(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
You can read something without citing it as evidence. The student moves from a rule about references in a paper to a complaint about what students are allowed to read. Those aren't the same restriction.
We could separately question the department's reason for distrusting these encyclopedias. But the professor's immediate response is simpler: the rule leaves students free to read them. It only prevents students from treating them as support for a claim in the paper.
What we’re looking for
For the disagreement, I'd look for that shift. Does banning a source from the reference list amount to banning students from reading it? The student's complaint treats it that way; the professor expressly denies it.
Working the answers
- A
Restricting certain sources doesn't establish a requirement to include some peer-reviewed sources. The professor might allow papers supported by other acceptable material; we aren't given a positive rule requiring peer-reviewed citations.
The student also needn't oppose such a requirement. Someone could accept that a paper should include some peer-reviewed sources while wanting permission to cite other sources too. We don't have opposite positions on A.
- BCorrect
This states the exact connection the student makes and the professor rejects. The student objects to the citation rule by invoking freedom to read. That response treats the restriction on using a source as evidence as a restriction on reading it. The professor says students remain free to read whatever they like, so the citation rule doesn't impose the reading ban the student complains about.
- C
They aren't debating when censorship of peer-reviewed reading would be justified. The dispute concerns whether this citation rule amounts to a reading restriction in the first place. Neither speaker gives us the needed position on the broader justification question.
- D
The student doesn't claim that non-peer-reviewed sources often have well-supported claims. The stated objection is about unfairness and freedom to read. Wanting permission to use a source doesn't establish this general assessment of how well that category of sources supports its claims.
- E
They agree on the freedom to read. The student says students should be allowed to read whatever they wish, and the professor immediately says they are allowed to do so. The professor defends a restriction on citations while maintaining that reading remains unrestricted.
More Disagreement questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Disagreement questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.