LSAT 131 – Section 3 – Question 04

LSAT 131 - Section 3 - Question 04

December 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT131 S3 Q04
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
1%
152
B
1%
157
C
97%
164
D
1%
154
E
1%
153
125
133
142
 +Easiest 146.026 +SubsectionMedium

On a short trip a driver is more likely to have an accident if there is a passenger in the car, presumably because passengers distract drivers. However, on a long trip a driver is more likely to have an accident if the driver is alone.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why are drivers with passengers more likely to get in accidents on short trips but less likely to get in accidents on long trips?

Objective
Any hypothesis explaining this phenomenon must state some difference between short and long trips. This difference must include a distinction between solo drivers and drivers with passengers that explains why carrying a passenger increases accident risk on long trips but decreases it on short trips.

A
People are much more likely to drive alone on short trips than on long trips.
This would explain a discrepancy between the total number of accidents in each category, but not different likelihoods of getting in an accident.
B
Good drivers tend to take more long trips than bad drivers.
This does not account for a passenger changing the probability of getting in an accident. It explains a phenomenon different from the one described.
C
The longer a car trip is, the more likely a passenger is to help the driver maintain alertness.
This explains why having a passenger lowers the probability of an accident during a long trip but increases it during a short trip. Passengers on short trips distract the driver, while passengers on long trips keep the driver alert.
D
On a long trip the likelihood of an accident does not increase with each additional passenger.
This states no difference between cars with passengers and cars with no passengers. For the sake of the discrepancy, cars with multiple passengers fall into the same category as cars with one passenger.
E
Most drivers take far more short trips than long trips.
This would explain a higher number of accidents on short trips, but not the phenomenon described. It does not explain why a passenger raises the accident probability in some cases but lowers it in others.

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LSAT PrepTest 131 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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