LSAT 16 - Section 2 - Question 18

This is a strengthening question, as the stem asks us: Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports Ping’s conclusion?

The passage takes the form of a dialogue between Winston and Ping over a transit authority’s attempt to operate without a budget deficit. We know from the question stem that we are interested in Ping’s conclusion. The first sentence appears a bit more complicated than it really is; it throws a lot of information and negations at us but what should really jump out at you is the “unless”. If we convert this unless into a conditional, we get something along the lines of “if the PTA does not cut late night services, then it cannot fulfill its mandate.” Whenever you see a sentence in an argument begin with “since” and then transition after a comma into a second clause, you should pick up the hint that the author is about to give a conclusion after introducing a premise. “Since [premise] is true, [conclusion].” Winston does exactly this, and gives us the conclusion of his argument that the cuts would reduce the deficit and should be made. As a cherry on top, he ends with another premise telling us that fare increases take two years, eliminating another possible remedy at least in the immediate future.

Ping responds to Winston by pointing out that cutting late-night service would not only affect fares purchased during that period, but would also decrease fares during the day, insofar as there are “those riders” who do round trips with one ride in the day and one during the late-night period. It makes sense when you think about it, if you work a job that finishes late, you might still commute to work during the day. If you can’t take the transit home after work at night, then you are more likely to find another way to commute during the day as well. It is a bit difficult to identify the conclusion in this argument, because it actually includes two. It is tempting to consider the last sentence the conclusion that the question stem told us about, because it begins with the indicator “thus”. However, this is actually a sub-conclusion which supports Ping’s overall position which he states in his opening sentence; the proposed service cuts might cost more than they would save. The correct answer will support Ping’s position that cutting late night service could lose the PTA money. Let’s look at the answers:

Correct Answer Choice (A) What this answer does is give us a bit more insight into those riders that Ping mentions. Ping’s argument as stated assumes those riders represent a significant enough proportion of ridership that the loss of their fares might be greater than the savings of cutting late-night services. For all we know, these riders could be a very small group, or not even exist. What A does is fill in this gap in the argument, by explicitly telling us that those riders make up almost a quarter of all PTA round trips. While 23% isn’t as strong support as a higher percentage, it’s important not to let this throw you off; the proof that those riders exist at all adds support to Ping’s conclusion.

Answer Choice (B) This answer tells us the riders’ opinion on cutting late-night services. Unfortunately, we don’t care what the riders think. Ping’s conclusion is simply a prediction that if the cuts happen, an undesirable result (loss of money) might occur. This is true regardless of the opinions of riders.

Answer Choice (C) C like B introduces completely irrelevant information to Ping’s conclusion. Winston mentions that it is a long process to get a fare increase approved, and all this does is strengthen that a fare increase is not a viable solution for the PTA to avoid a budget deficit. But fare increases have no bearing on Ping’s argument because it is a prediction about late night service cuts.

Answer Choice (D) Whichever LSAC writer did this question sure loves percentages, and we get another one thrown at us. Once again this answer is irrelevant to Ping’s argument. The relative severity of the deficit does not affect Ping’s claim about the potential for service cuts to lose the PTA money.

Answer Choice (E) This answer doesn’t give us enough information, and if anything hurts Ping’s argument by introducing another cost associated with late-night services which might outweigh the fares earned from those riders. While it tells us that the cash bonuses are “significant”, we don’t know how many bus drivers there are or even whether the late-night service is composed of mostly buses as opposed to trains, streetcars, or what.