Most Logical Reasoning arguments and almost all Reading Comprehension passages are fairly reasonable in their tone. That is, they don’t use extreme language or stretch what the author is trying to say.
This is the fifth in a series of articles dealing with wrong answer choices in LSAT Logical Reasoning. The series includes the following articles:
LSAT Answers with Wrong Tone
What is extreme language? The following words are an example of extreme language:
Of course, if an author does use extreme language in an argument, the answer choices might also be extreme. But more often than not, extreme language rules out and answer choice. Consider these three answers you’ve already seen in the previous articles in this series:
(A) Chimpanzees can only learn language if they are given emotional stimulus while learning.
This was a wrong choice for an “inference” question. Again, it seems close to what the author is saying, but the extreme language — the word “only” — distorts it. We know that chimpanzees learn language better when given emotional cues, but the author never said it was the only way to learn.
(B) Chimpanzees are the only primate to require emotional cues when learning language skills.
This was the right answer to a weaken question. Since we were asked to see which choice weakens the argument if true, we have to accept the extreme language as if it were true. This answer attacks the central assumption, and therefore, significantly weakens the argument. This is an example of where extreme tone is acceptable.
(C) Chimpanzees and children both require emotional cues to learn language.
This is the right answer to an “inference” question. Notice how reasonable the language is. Nothing extreme, pretty broad and straightforward. A good inference.
Next, let’s take a look at LSAT Practice Questions for Wrong Answers.