LNAT (Law National Aptitude Test)

Passage: "Cities should ban private cars from their centres. Air pollution from traffic causes thousands of premature deaths each year, and pedestrianised districts consistently report higher footfall for local shops. Some object that bans harm disabled residents who depend on cars, but exemptions and accessible transport can address this. The health gains are simply too great to ignore." Which of the following best expresses the main conclusion of the passage?

• ACities should ban private cars from their centres.
• BAir pollution from traffic causes thousands of premature deaths each year.
• CPedestrianised districts report higher footfall for local shops.
• DBans on cars harm disabled residents who depend on them.

Using the same passage about banning private cars, which of the following is an assumption on which the author's argument depends?

• AEvery city centre currently permits private cars at all hours.
• BExemptions and accessible transport can adequately address the needs of disabled resident…
• CLocal shopkeepers unanimously support pedestrianisation.
• DAir pollution is the leading cause of death in all major cities.

In the car-ban passage, the author's treatment of the objection that bans harm disabled residents is best described as which of the following?

• AIgnoring the objection entirely.
• BConceding that the objection defeats the argument.
• CAcknowledging the objection and offering a way to mitigate it.
• DDismissing the objection as dishonest.

Passage: "Defenders of zoos claim they protect endangered species. Yet most zoo animals belong to species that are not endangered, and breeding programmes rarely return animals to the wild. The few genuine conservation successes could be funded directly without keeping millions of animals in enclosures. Zoos persist mainly because the public enjoys visiting them." Which statement is best supported by the passage?

• AZoos have never contributed to any species' survival.
• BThe public should be banned from visiting zoos.
• CEndangered species cannot be bred in captivity.
• DConservation does not require keeping the bulk of zoo animals in enclosures.

In the passage about zoos, which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's argument?

• ADirect conservation funding is far less effective at saving species than coordinated capt…
• BZoo ticket prices have risen sharply over the past decade.
• CSome visitors find zoo enclosures too small.
• DA handful of zoos are located in major capital cities.

In the zoos passage, the word 'persist' (in 'Zoos persist mainly because the public enjoys visiting them') is used to convey which of the following?

• AThat zoos are rapidly expanding worldwide.
• BThat zoos continue to exist for reasons other than their stated conservation purpose.
• CThat zoos are admired by conservation scientists.
• DThat zoos have recently been established.

Passage: "It is often said that social media has made young people more anxious. But anxiety surveys also rose among the elderly, who use social media far less. Moreover, reported anxiety increased in countries where smartphone use barely changed. Before blaming technology, we should consider whether the way we measure anxiety has itself altered." What is the author's main point?

• ASocial media is the principal cause of youth anxiety.
• BElderly people are more anxious than young people.
• CThe rise in measured anxiety may reflect changes in measurement rather than social media.
• DSmartphone use has fallen in most countries.

In the passage about anxiety and social media, the evidence about elderly people and about countries with stable smartphone use functions to do which of the following?

• AProve conclusively that social media has no effect on anyone.
• BShow that anxiety has declined overall.
• CEstablish that the elderly use smartphones more than the young.
• DCast doubt on the claim that social media causes the rise in anxiety.

Passage: "Critics argue that minimum wage rises destroy jobs. But after our city raised its minimum wage last year, total employment actually grew. Clearly, raising the minimum wage creates jobs rather than destroying them." Which of the following best identifies the flaw in this argument?

• AIt assumes the employment growth was caused by the wage rise rather than by other factors.
• BIt relies on a definition of employment that is never stated.
• CIt contradicts itself by both supporting and opposing the wage rise.
• DIt appeals to the authority of unnamed experts.

In the minimum-wage passage, which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the author's conclusion?

• AThe city's population increased substantially during the year.
• BNeighbouring cities with no wage rise saw employment fall over the same period.
• CSeveral large employers relocated into the city for unrelated tax reasons.
• DNational employment rose in every city that year.

Passage: "The new history syllabus has been praised for being more inclusive. It is true that it covers a wider range of cultures. However, by trying to cover everything, it leaves pupils with only a superficial grasp of any one period. Breadth has been bought at the price of depth." Which of the following best describes the author's overall attitude towards the new syllabus?

• AWholly enthusiastic.
• BEntirely neutral and descriptive.
• CCritical, while acknowledging one genuine merit.
• DIndifferent to its educational effects.

In the history-syllabus passage, the phrase 'Breadth has been bought at the price of depth' is intended to convey which of the following?

• AThe syllabus is too expensive for schools to afford.
• BDepth of study has been increased alongside breadth.
• CTeachers were paid extra to broaden the syllabus.
• DGaining wider coverage has come at the cost of detailed understanding.

Passage: "Some campaigners want all junk food advertising banned. They point out that childhood obesity has risen. But obesity has many causes, including diet at home, exercise and sleep. Singling out advertising risks giving the impression that the problem is solved once the adverts disappear, when in fact the hardest work lies elsewhere." Which of the following best states the author's main conclusion?

• ABanning junk food advertising alone would not solve childhood obesity and could create a…
• BJunk food advertising has no effect on children's diets.
• CChildhood obesity has not actually risen.
• DCampaigners should focus exclusively on sleep and exercise.

In the junk-food advertising passage, the reference to obesity having 'many causes, including diet at home, exercise and sleep' plays which role in the argument?

• AIt is the main conclusion of the passage.
• BIt supports the claim that an advertising ban would be an incomplete solution.
• CIt concedes that advertising is the chief cause of obesity.
• DIt is an objection the author goes on to reject.

Passage: "A popular claim holds that people remember only ten per cent of what they read. The figure appears in countless training manuals. Yet no one citing it can point to the original study, and psychologists who have searched for it find none. A statistic repeated often enough begins to feel like fact." Which of the following is most strongly implied by the passage?

• APeople in fact remember far more than ten per cent of what they read.
• BTraining manuals are generally unreliable on every topic.
• CThe ten-per-cent figure is probably not based on genuine research.
• DPsychologists have proven the figure to be exactly correct.

In the passage about the ten-per-cent memory claim, the final sentence ('A statistic repeated often enough begins to feel like fact') serves which purpose?

• AIt introduces new evidence supporting the ten-per-cent figure.
• BIt concedes that the figure is probably accurate after all.
• CIt identifies the psychologist who first published the figure.
• DIt generalises the example into a broader point about how repetition lends false credibil…

Passage: "Opponents of nuclear power emphasise the risk of accidents. Yet over its history nuclear power has caused fewer deaths per unit of energy than coal, oil or even some renewables, once mining and pollution are counted. The fear nuclear inspires is real, but fear is a poor guide to relative danger." Which of the following best captures the author's main argument?

• APublic fear of nuclear power exceeds its actual relative danger.
• BNuclear power produces no waste or risk of any kind.
• CRenewable energy is more dangerous than nuclear in every respect.
• DCoal and oil should be expanded in place of nuclear power.

In the nuclear-power passage, which assumption is needed for the comparison of deaths per unit of energy to support the author's conclusion?

• ANuclear accidents have never killed anyone.
• BDeaths per unit of energy is a relevant measure of how dangerous an energy source is.
• CThe public is indifferent to the source of its electricity.
• DCoal will soon be phased out worldwide.

Passage: "A council spokesperson announced that the new bus lane had 'transformed' the high street. Traffic surveys, however, show journey times unchanged and bus punctuality slightly worse. Residents report the same congestion as before. The word 'transformed' seems to describe the press release rather than the road." The author's tone in the final sentence is best described as which of the following?

• AAdmiring of the council's achievement.
• BNeutral and purely factual.
• CIronic, suggesting the official claim is not borne out by the evidence.
• DApologetic on the council's behalf.

In the bus-lane passage, which of the following is best supported by the information given?

• AThe bus lane has improved journey times for most drivers.
• BResidents are pleased with the new arrangements.
• CBus punctuality has improved since the lane opened.
• DThe measurable evidence does not match the spokesperson's description.

Passage: "Universities should drop the personal statement from applications. Wealthier applicants can pay consultants to polish theirs, so the statement measures resources as much as merit. Admissions tutors admit they rarely change a decision because of it. Removing it would save everyone time and reduce an unfair advantage." Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument?

• AWithout personal statements, tutors would rely more heavily on school references, which f…
• BSome applicants enjoy writing their personal statements.
• CPersonal statements are usually around 4,000 characters long.
• DA few universities already make the statement optional.

In the personal-statement passage, on which of the following assumptions does the argument rely?

• AAll applicants currently hire admissions consultants.
• BThere is no other important function of the personal statement that would be lost by remo…
• CAdmissions tutors never read the rest of the application.
• DPersonal statements are graded numerically.

Passage: "Every great composer studied the work of earlier masters. Therefore, anyone who wishes to become a great composer must first study earlier masters." Which of the following best identifies the flaw in this reasoning?

• AIt relies on a statistic that is never quoted.
• BIt assumes earlier masters were themselves great.
• CIt treats a feature common to great composers as if it were sufficient or necessary to be…
• DIt contradicts the claim made in its first sentence.

Passage: "The minister insists the economy is 'fundamentally strong'. She points to record stock prices. But share values reflect the fortunes of large companies, not the wages or security of ordinary workers, many of whom report falling real incomes. A strong stock market and a strong economy are not the same thing." Which of the following best expresses the main point of the passage?

• AThe stock market is certain to crash soon.
• BOrdinary workers' incomes are rising steadily.
• CThe minister has deliberately lied about the economy.
• DRecord stock prices do not by themselves show that the economy is strong for ordinary peo…

In the passage about the economy, the author's argument turns on which of the following distinctions?

• ABetween the performance of large companies and the financial wellbeing of ordinary worker…
• BBetween short-term and long-term interest rates.
• CBetween government policy and opposition policy.
• DBetween national and regional unemployment.

Passage: "Defenders of homework say it builds discipline. Critics reply that it widens inequality, since children with quiet rooms and educated parents benefit most. Both sides assume homework has a large effect on outcomes. But carefully controlled studies suggest the effect, in either direction, is surprisingly small." What is the author's main conclusion?

• AHomework should be abolished immediately.
• BBoth sides may be overstating how much homework actually affects outcomes.
• CHomework clearly builds discipline as defenders claim.
• DInequality is caused mainly by homework.

In the homework passage, the reference to 'carefully controlled studies' functions to do which of the following?

• AConcede that the critics of homework are correct.
• BRestate the defenders' position in stronger terms.
• CProvide evidence that challenges an assumption shared by both sides of the debate.
• DIntroduce the main conclusion as a premise.

Passage: "The advertisement claims the diet 'helped nine out of ten users lose weight'. Read closely, this means only that ninety per cent lost some weight, perhaps a single pound, over an unspecified period. It says nothing about how much, for how long, or compared with what." Which of the following is best supported by the passage?

• AThe diet causes most users to lose a great deal of weight.
• BNinety per cent of users regained the weight afterwards.
• CThe advertisement is illegal under consumer law.
• DThe advertised statistic is consistent with results that are trivial or short-lived.

In the diet-advertisement passage, the phrase 'compared with what' in the final sentence draws attention to which of the following?

• AThe absence of any control or baseline for judging the diet's effectiveness.
• BThe price of the diet relative to its competitors.
• CThe number of users who took part in the trial.
• DThe taste of the food included in the diet.

Passage: "It is sometimes argued that because the law cannot prevent all crime, harsher penalties are pointless. This does not follow. Seatbelts do not prevent all road deaths, yet no one concludes that wearing them is pointless. A measure can be worthwhile even if it falls short of perfection." The seatbelt example is used in the passage primarily to do which of the following?

• AProve that harsher penalties always reduce crime.
• BExpose the weakness of inferring that a measure is pointless merely because it is imperfe…
• CArgue that seatbelts should be made compulsory.
• DShow that road deaths and crime have the same causes.

Passage: "Tourism brings money to the island, supporters say, and so should be encouraged without limit. But beyond a certain point each extra visitor brings less benefit and more cost: crowded beaches, strained water supplies, rising rents that drive out locals. The question is not whether tourism helps, but how much is too much." Which of the following best states the author's main conclusion?

• ATourism should be banned on the island.
• BTourism brings no economic benefit to the island.
• CTourism's benefits have a limit, so the real issue is finding the right level rather than…
• DRising rents are the only problem caused by tourism.

In the tourism passage, the phrase 'each extra visitor brings less benefit and more cost' expresses which of the following ideas?

• AThat tourists are increasingly poor and spend little.
• BThat the island has stopped admitting visitors.
• CThat every visitor causes exactly the same amount of harm.
• DThat the net advantage of tourism declines as visitor numbers rise.

Passage: "A reviewer wrote that the novel was 'never less than competent'. The author quoted this on the cover as praise. Yet 'never less than competent' is faint praise indeed: it tells us the book never falls below a modest standard, while carefully avoiding any claim that it rises above one." The author of the passage suggests that the cover quotation is which of the following?

• AMisleading, because it presents a lukewarm verdict as if it were enthusiastic.
• BAn accurate summary of an enthusiastic review.
• CA breach of the reviewer's copyright.
• DProof that the novel is a masterpiece.

Passage: "We are told that working from home harms productivity. The evidence offered is that some remote workers reported feeling distracted. But feeling distracted is not the same as producing less, and the studies that actually measured output found it unchanged or slightly higher. Perception and performance have been confused." Which of the following best identifies the reasoning error the author attributes to the claim he criticises?

• AAssuming that all remote workers are identical.
• BTreating how workers feel as if it directly measured how much they produce.
• CRelying on a sample that was too small to be reliable.
• DUsing out-of-date studies from many years ago.

In the working-from-home passage, the studies that 'actually measured output' are introduced in order to do which of the following?

• AConfirm that remote workers feel distracted.
• BShow that office work is more productive than remote work.
• CProvide evidence that contradicts the claim that home working harms productivity.
• DExplain why workers prefer working from home.

Passage: "Some argue that voting should be compulsory, as it is in Australia. They say it produces governments that reflect the whole population. Critics counter that a vote cast only to avoid a fine is not a meaningful expression of opinion. Forcing people to the ballot box may raise turnout without raising genuine engagement." Which of the following best captures the critics' position as presented in the passage?

• ACompulsory voting always produces better governments.
• BVoting should be abolished entirely.
• CAustralians do not actually vote in large numbers.
• DCompulsory voting may increase turnout figures without increasing real political engageme…

In the compulsory-voting passage, which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the critics' position?

• AIn countries with compulsory voting, large numbers of ballots are spoiled or cast at rand…
• BCompulsory voting is unpopular with some political parties.
• CTurnout in Australia is higher than in countries with voluntary voting.
• DFines for not voting are relatively small.

Passage: "The headline read 'Coffee linked to longer life'. The study behind it found that heavy coffee drinkers lived slightly longer on average. But heavy coffee drinkers also tended to be wealthier and to smoke less. The headline mistook a correlation, tangled up with other differences, for a benefit of coffee itself." What is the main point the author is making?

• ACoffee has been proven to extend human life.
• BThe headline wrongly treated a correlation as evidence that coffee itself extends life.
• CWealthy people should drink more coffee.
• DSmoking is more harmful than drinking coffee.

In the coffee-and-longevity passage, the mention that heavy coffee drinkers 'tended to be wealthier and to smoke less' is included to do which of the following?

• AConfirm that coffee directly causes longer life.
• BArgue that wealthier people drink less coffee.
• COffer alternative explanations for why coffee drinkers lived longer.
• DProve that smoking has no health effects.

Passage: "Free speech, its defenders insist, must protect even speech we find offensive, for otherwise it protects nothing of value. Yet the same defenders often want to silence speech they consider dangerous. If the principle holds, it must hold for views they dislike as much as for views they share." Which of the following best expresses the author's main conclusion?

• AAll offensive speech should be banned.
• BFree speech protects nothing of value.
• CDangerous speech and offensive speech are identical.
• DA genuine commitment to free speech must extend to views one personally opposes.

In the free-speech passage, the author's argument relies most heavily on which of the following principles?

• AA principle should be applied consistently regardless of whether one agrees with the part…
• BOffensive speech is always more valuable than agreeable speech.
• CGovernments should never regulate speech of any kind.
• DPeople are entitled to silence views they find dangerous.

Passage: "Opponents of the railway say it will spoil the countryside. They are right that some views will be lost. But the line will take thousands of lorries off rural roads, cutting both accidents and emissions. Whether the railway is worth building depends on weighing a visible loss against benefits that are real but harder to see." The author's overall stance on the railway is best described as which of the following?

• AFirmly opposed to building the railway.
• BBalanced, presenting the decision as a trade-off rather than taking a firm side.
• CIndifferent to the effect on the countryside.
• DCertain that the railway must be built whatever the cost.

In the railway passage, the phrase 'benefits that are real but harder to see' is used to make which of the following points?

• AThe benefits of the railway are imaginary.
• BThe countryside views are not really being lost.
• CSome genuine advantages of the railway are less obvious than the visible loss of countrys…
• DOnly experts can decide whether the railway should be built.

Passage: "A common saying holds that 'the exception proves the rule'. People use it to suggest that an exception somehow confirms a general claim. But in its original sense 'prove' meant 'test': an exception tests a rule, and may well break it. The phrase has been turned upside down by misunderstanding one old word." Which of the following is best supported by the passage?

• AExceptions always confirm general rules.
• BThe saying has no origin in older English.
• CAll old sayings are routinely misunderstood.
• DThe modern use of the saying rests on a changed meaning of the word 'prove'.

Passage: "It would be wrong to scrap the speed cameras. Yes, they raise money in fines, and cynics call them a stealth tax. But the roads on which they stand have seen serious accidents fall sharply. If a measure both saves lives and pays for itself, the motive behind it scarcely matters." Which of the following best identifies the author's main conclusion?

• ASpeed cameras should be kept because they reduce serious accidents, whatever the motive f…
• BSpeed cameras exist only to raise revenue.
• CThe motive behind a policy is the most important thing about it.
• DFines from speed cameras should be abolished.

In the speed-camera passage, the concession that cynics call the cameras 'a stealth tax' functions to do which of the following?

• AProvide the main evidence for the author's conclusion.
• BAcknowledge an objection that the author then sets aside as outweighed by safety benefits.
• CShow that the author agrees the cameras are merely a tax.
• DProve that the cameras do not reduce accidents.

Passage: "Supporters of the lottery say it funds good causes painlessly. But the people who buy the most tickets are, on average, those who can least afford to lose. A scheme that takes most from the poorest, even in the name of charity, is not as painless as it looks." Which of the following is an assumption underlying the author's argument?

• ALottery prizes are smaller than advertised.
• BGood causes do not in fact need the money.
• CWhether a funding scheme is 'painless' depends partly on who bears its cost.
• DWealthy people never buy lottery tickets.

Passage: "A politician declared, 'My opponents have no plan for the economy.' In fact, his opponents had published a detailed plan the week before; he simply disagreed with it. To have a plan one disagrees with is not the same as having no plan at all." The author is principally drawing attention to which of the following?

• AThe superiority of the opponents' economic plan.
• BThe politician's lack of any economic policy.
• CThe fact that economic plans are usually unpublished.
• DA misleading shift from 'a plan I disagree with' to 'no plan'.