LSAT 106 – Section 1 – Question 26

LSAT 106 - Section 1 - Question 26

June 1999

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT106 S1 Q26
+LR
Except +Exc
Strengthen +Streng
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
1%
161
B
5%
163
C
5%
160
D
6%
161
E
83%
168
147
155
163
 +Harder 152.148 +SubsectionHarder

Modern navigation systems, which are found in most of today’s commercial aircraft, are made with low-power circuitry, which is more susceptible to interference than the vacuum-tube circuitry found in older planes. During landing, navigation systems receive radio signals from the airport to guide the plane to the runway. Recently, one plane with low-power circuitry veered off course during landing, its dials dimming, when a passenger turned on a laptop computer. Clearly, modern aircraft navigation systems are being put at risk by the electronic devices that passengers carry on board, such as cassette players and laptop computers.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that passengers using electronic devices put modern airplanes at risk. Why? Because the planes’ navigation systems use low-power circuitry that’s more susceptible to interference than vacuum-tube circuitry in old planes, as illustrated by a recent incident where a navigation system apparently malfunctioned when a passenger opened a laptop.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes the navigation system’s behavior during the off-course landing was unusual and occurred because the passenger opened their laptop, and not for some other reason. This means assuming laptops and cassette players carried by passengers produce radiation that’s capable of interfering with a modern navigation system.

A
After the laptop computer was turned off, the plane regained course and its navigation instruments and dials returned to normal.
This strengthens the argument by making it more likely the laptop caused the navigation system’s behavior during the off-course landing.
B
When in use all electronic devices emit electromagnetic radiation, which is known to interfere with circuitry.
This strengthens the argument by confirming that cassette players, laptops, and other devices produce radiation. It rules out the possibility that some electronic devices emit no radiation, which would weaken the argument.
C
No problems with navigational equipment or instrument dials have been reported on flights with no passenger-owned electronic devices on board.
This strengthens the argument by ruling out a powerful counterexample. If similar behavior had occurred on flights with no passenger-owned devices, then the laptop’s responsibility would be less likely.
D
Significant electromagnetic radiation from portable electronic devices can travel up to eight meters, and some passenger seats on modern aircraft are located within four meters of the navigation systems.
This strengthens the argument by confirming that passengers sit close enough for radiation from their devices to reach navigation systems. If all the passengers sat too far away for their radiation to reach those systems, the argument would falter.
E
Planes were first equipped with low-power circuitry at about the same time portable electronic devices became popular.
This is irrelevant. The author concludes there’s a risk presently—it doesn’t matter when passenger-owned devices and low-power circuitry became prevalent, so long as they’re both prevalent right now.

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LSAT PrepTest 106 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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