LSAT 134 – Section 3 – Question 15

LSAT 134 - Section 3 - Question 15

October 2011

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT134 S3 Q15
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Analogy +An
A
27%
161
B
54%
167
C
6%
162
D
4%
161
E
9%
163
151
163
175
 +Hardest 146.872 +SubsectionMedium

Columnist: Shortsighted motorists learn the hard way about the wisdom of preventive auto maintenance; such maintenance almost always pays off in the long run. Our usually shortsighted city council should be praised for using similar wisdom when they hired a long-term economic development adviser. In hiring this adviser, the council made an investment that is likely to have a big payoff in several years. Other cities in this region that have devoted resources to economic development planning have earned large returns on such an investment.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that we should praise the council for hiring a long-term economic adviser. This is based on the subsidiary conclusion that the decision to hire the adviser is likely to have a big economic benefit in several years. The subsidiary conclusion is based on the fact that other cities in the region that have invested in economic development planning have earned large returns on those investments. In addition, the author supports that conclusion with an analogy to auto maintenance, which almost always is worth the cost.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the other cities that got large returns on economic development are relevantly similar to the council’s city. The author also assumes that auto maintenance is relevantly similar to economic development in its general likelihood of paying off.

A
Even some cars that receive regular preventive maintenance break down, requiring costly repairs.
We still know that auto maintenance “almost always pays off in the long run.” The author already acknowledges that it might not pay off in every case. Pointing out something the author already acknowledges doesn’t weaken.
B
The columnist’s city has a much smaller population and economy than the other cities did when they began devoting resources to economic development planning.
This shows that the cities the author cites to might not be relevantly similar. Cities with a smaller population and economy might get more value from economic development than a city like the council’s. This weakens the support provided by the author’s comparison.
C
Most motorists who fail to perform preventive maintenance on their cars do so for nonfinancial reasons.
The reason that some motorists fail to perform preventive maintenance doesn’t change the fact that auto maintenance “almost always pays off in the long run.” The argument concerns the value of maintenance, not the motivations behind failure to maintain.
D
Qualified economic development advisers generally demand higher salaries than many city councils are willing to spend.
This doesn’t suggest the adviser is unqualified. We have no reason to think the adviser was among those who demand more than many councils are willing to spend or that this city council wasn’t willing to spend to hire someone qualified. (D) also ignores the argument’s reasoning.
E
Cities that have earned large returns due to hiring economic development advisers did not earn any returns at all in the advisers’ first few years of employment.
The author believes the investment in the adviser will pay off in the long run. That acknowledges that there might not be a payoff in the first few years. So, lack of payoff in the first few years is consistent with the author’s position.

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LSAT PrepTest 134 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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