Free Law School Admission Test (LSAT) Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1A city historian writes: Early maps show only the wealthy district's paved streets. A newly found maintenance ledger records repairs to stone lanes in poorer districts during the same period. The ledger does not show that every district was paved. It does show that treating the maps as a complete inventory would underestimate the spread of paving. Which statement best expresses the historian's main point?

   1. A.The wealthy district had fewer paved streets than poorer districts.
   2. B.The maps alone give an incomplete picture of the city's paving.Correct answer: B
   3. C.Maintenance ledgers establish that every district had paved roads.
   4. D.Street maps were created primarily to record maintenance costs.

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Answer the questions only on the basis of the information provided in the selection." The claim about an incomplete inventory organizes both pieces of evidence. The ledger establishes additional paved lanes, not relative totals or universal paving; nothing establishes the maps' purpose.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Reading Comprehension — Strategies for Answering Questions, final paragraph

2. 2A council member argues: The transit agency should extend evening service. Hospital shifts end after the last bus, and employees without cars must otherwise pay for taxis. Which statement is the conclusion?

   1. A.Hospital shifts end after the last bus.
   2. B.Some hospital employees do not own cars.
   3. C.Evening bus service should be extended.Correct answer: C
   4. D.Employees sometimes pay for taxi trips.

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Work within the context provided by the passage." The recommendation is what the two practical facts support. The other statements describe reasons or consequences offered in its support rather than the proposed action.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Logical Reasoning — Final substantive paragraph, passage-based reasoning

3. 3An ecologist argues: Restoring a marsh may reduce nearby flood peaks, but that benefit does not make marsh restoration a substitute for every flood defense. Some storms exceed the marsh's storage capacity, and some neighborhoods lie outside its drainage area. Restoration should therefore be evaluated as one part of a locally tailored flood strategy. What is the passage's central claim?

   1. A.Restored marshes cannot reduce flood peaks in nearby neighborhoods.
   2. B.Only neighborhoods outside a marsh's drainage area need defenses.
   3. C.Marsh storage capacity can be expanded to absorb any storm.
   4. D.Marsh restoration should complement a flood strategy fitted to local conditions.Correct answer: D

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Answer the questions only on the basis of the information provided in the selection." The conclusion recommends a complementary, locally tailored role. The first sentence recognizes a benefit; the two limitations explain why that benefit does not justify universal substitution.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Reading Comprehension — Strategies for Answering Questions, final paragraph

4. 4An analyst writes: New insulation will reduce this building's heating demand. That reduction will lower its fuel bill, so the savings will partly offset the installation cost. What role does the prediction of a lower fuel bill play?

   1. A.It is an intermediate conclusion supporting the claim about offsetting costs.Correct answer: A
   2. B.It is the final recommendation to cancel the insulation project.
   3. C.It is an objection the analyst rejects as factually mistaken.
   4. D.It is a definition of what counts as insulation.

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Work within the context provided by the passage." Reduced demand supports the bill prediction, which then supports partial cost offset. Thus it links an earlier premise to the final economic conclusion rather than functioning as a definition or rejected objection.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Logical Reasoning — Final substantive paragraph, passage-based reasoning

5. 5A literary critic observes: A novel's unreliable narrator sometimes reports events accurately. Those accurate reports matter because readers must distinguish local truth from the narrator's larger distortions. Calling the narrator unreliable therefore identifies a problem of interpretation rather than permission to dismiss every sentence. Which statement best captures the critic's point?

   1. A.An unreliable narrator requires selective interpretation rather than blanket dismissal.Correct answer: A
   2. B.A narrator is unreliable only when every reported event is false.
   3. C.Accurate reports establish that the narrator's entire account is dependable.
   4. D.Readers should interpret only events independently confirmed outside the novel.

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Answer the questions only on the basis of the information provided in the selection." The passage opposes indiscriminate rejection while retaining the larger unreliability claim. It neither requires universal falsehood nor treats isolated accuracy as general reliability or demands outside confirmation.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Reading Comprehension — Strategies for Answering Questions, final paragraph

6. 6A researcher argues: The sample's smooth surface does not establish that it was polished by people. Water can produce similar smoothness, and this sample came from a streambed. What role does the streambed location play?

   1. A.It establishes that every smooth object was polished by water.
   2. B.It defines the term smooth surface for all archaeological objects.
   3. C.It is the claim that human polishing has been conclusively disproved.
   4. D.It gives contextual support for the alternative natural explanation.Correct answer: D

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Work within the context provided by the passage." The location makes water smoothing a relevant alternative. The argument only limits what smoothness establishes; it does not prove all smoothness natural or categorically exclude human action.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Logical Reasoning — Final substantive paragraph, passage-based reasoning

7. 7A museum curator writes: A replica can be more accessible for handling and teaching than a fragile original. Yet an original may preserve tool marks and material changes absent from the replica. Whether to display one or the other should depend on the educational question, rather than an assumption that either is always superior. What is the curator chiefly arguing?

   1. A.Fragile originals should be removed from every educational exhibition.
   2. B.Replicas preserve every feature needed for historical interpretation.
   3. C.Display choices should match the educational purpose and relevant evidence.Correct answer: C
   4. D.The ability to handle an object is the only measure of educational value.

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Answer the questions only on the basis of the information provided in the selection." The conclusion makes the educational question decisive. Different advantages support conditional choice, not blanket removal, complete equivalence or a single universal criterion.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Reading Comprehension — Strategies for Answering Questions, final paragraph

8. 8A librarian reasons: If the original register is missing, an independently dated copy may still establish when an entry was recorded. This copy was dated by a contemporary official, so it can provide evidence despite the missing original. Which statement supplies a general premise?

   1. A.The original register in this case is missing.
   2. B.An independently dated copy may establish an entry's date.Correct answer: B
   3. C.A contemporary official dated this particular copy.
   4. D.This copy can provide evidence about the entry.

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Work within the context provided by the passage." The general conditional principle licenses moving from the particular independently dated copy to its evidentiary use. The remaining statements concern the case or its resulting conclusion.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Logical Reasoning — Final substantive paragraph, passage-based reasoning

9. 9An economist writes: A fall in a product's average price may reflect cheaper versions becoming a larger share of sales, even if the price of each version stays unchanged. Reports that treat the average as the price of an unchanged representative item may therefore misdescribe what buyers encountered. What is the main point?

   1. A.Every decline in an average price reflects a change in the mix of sales.
   2. B.An average price can change without a price change for any individual version.Correct answer: B
   3. C.Buyers always choose cheaper versions when more expensive versions appear.
   4. D.A representative item's price must equal the most expensive version's price.

   Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Answer the questions only on the basis of the information provided in the selection." The hypothetical mix change establishes a possibility and a warning about interpretation. It does not claim that mix changes explain every average decline, prescribe buyer behavior or define a representative item by its highest price.

   Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Reading Comprehension — Strategies for Answering Questions, final paragraph

10. 10An editorial states: Critics say a larger reserve fund is wasteful. However, repairs are unpredictable, and borrowing on short notice is expensive. The fund should therefore be maintained. What role does the critics' statement play?

    1. A.A view introduced for the editorial to oppose.Correct answer: A
    2. B.A factual premise the editorial adopts without qualification.
    3. C.The conclusion established by the borrowing-cost evidence.
    4. D.A necessary definition of a reserve fund.

    Explanation: LSAC instructs: "Work within the context provided by the passage." The editorial introduces the wastefulness charge and answers it with uncertainty and borrowing costs. It does not adopt that charge, derive it from its own evidence or use it as a definition.

    Reference: LSAC — Suggested Approach for Logical Reasoning — Final substantive paragraph, passage-based reasoning