LSAT 143 – Section 1 – Question 21

LSAT 143 - Section 1 - Question 21

June 2015

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT143 S1 Q21
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Net Effect +NetEff
A
3%
156
B
74%
166
C
4%
158
D
3%
153
E
16%
160
147
155
163
 +Harder 148.401 +SubsectionMedium

A new device uses the global positioning system to determine a cow’s location and, when a cow strays outside of its pasture, makes noises in the cow’s ears to steer it back to its home range. Outfitting all of the cattle in a herd with this device is far more expensive than other means of keeping cattle in their pastures, such as fences. The device’s maker nevertheless predicts that ranchers will purchase the device at its current price.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

Why does the device’s maker think that ranchers will buy the device at its current price even though it is far more expensive to use this device on all the cattle in a herd than it is to use some other means of keeping cattle in their pasture?

Objective

The correct answer will be a hypothesis that explains a key characteristic of this device that makes ranchers likely to purchase the device in spite of the fact that it is very costly to outfit all the cattle in a herd with this device.

A
The price of the device will come down appreciably if the device’s maker is able to produce it in large quantities.

The device’s maker predicts that ranchers will buy the device at its current price, so whether its price decreases in the future is irrelevant. Also, (A) does not help to explain why ranchers will purchase the device at its current price.

B
As they graze, cattle in a herd follow the lead of the same few members of the herd.

This highlights a key feature that makes ranchers likely to buy the device, even though it’s expensive to outfit an entire herd with it. The reason is simply that ranchers only need to outfit a few leading cattle, not all of them.

C
The device has been shown not to cause significant stress to cattle.

The device may not cause stress to cattle, but this doesn’t give a reason why ranchers will purchase it despite its cost. Presumably there are other, cheaper means of keeping cattle in their pasture that also don’t cause stress. So what’s so great about this device?

D
The device has been shown to be as effective as fences at keeping cattle in their pastures.

If the device is as effective as fences at keeping cattle in their pastures, but fences are far less expensive, why will the ranchers still purchase the device? We need to highlight a characteristic of this device that will cause ranchers to purchase it.

E
The device’s maker offers significant discounts to purchasers who buy in bulk.

Like (A), the device’s maker predicts that ranchers will buy the device at its current price, so whether it is discounted for bulk purchases is not relevant.

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LSAT PrepTest 143 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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