LSAT 104 – Section 4 – Question 02

LSAT 104 - Section 4 - Question 02

December 1998

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT104 S4 Q02
+LR
Strengthen +Streng
Net Effect +NetEff
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
1%
157
B
96%
168
C
1%
158
D
2%
161
E
0%
169
124
134
145
 +Easiest 147.438 +SubsectionMedium

The average cable television company offers its customers 50 channels, but new fiber-optic lines will enable telephone companies to provide 100 to 150 television channels to their customers for the same price as cable companies charge for 50. Therefore, cable companies will be displaced by the new television services offered by telephone companies within a few years.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that cable companies won’t be able to survive the fiber-optic revolution. This is because fiber-optic cables allow telephone companies to offer 150 channels for the same price cable companies charge for 50 channels.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that customers will generally choose packages with more channels at the same price. This means the author either believes customers simply like having more channels, or that some of the channels are ones customers want but don’t have access to. The author also assumes that cable companies don’t bundle their TV services with other products (i.e. internet service) in a way that would be cost-efficient for customers.

A
The initial cost per household of installing new fiber-optic television service will exceed the current cost of installing cable television service.
This seems to weaken the argument for the fiber-optic revolution. Even if telephone companies can offer channels at a cheaper price, the installation fee might mitigate some of that benefit.
B
The most popular movies and programs on channels carried by cable companies will also be offered on channels carried by the fiber-optic lines owned by the telephone companies.
Customers generally won’t lose out on any of their favorite programs if they switch to fiber-optic. They’ll simply get more choices at a lower price point.
C
Cable television companies will respond to competition from the telephone companies by increasing the number of channels they offer.
If anything, this seems to weaken the author’s argument. The whole benefit of fiber-optic is that more channels will be available.
D
Some telephone companies own cable companies in areas other than those in which they provide telephone services.
Irrelevant. The author never talks about telephone companies own cable companies.
E
The new fiber-optic services offered by telephone companies will be subject to more stringent governmental programming regulations than those to which cable companies are now subject.
This may actually weaken the author’s argument. Some people’s favorite shows might be regulated out of existence on the fiber-optic services.

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LSAT PrepTest 104 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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