LSAT 148 – Section 1 – Question 06

LSAT 148 - Section 1 - Question 06

December 2016

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT148 S1 Q06
+LR
Main conclusion or main point +MC
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Value Judgment +ValJudg
Analogy +An
A
0%
154
B
98%
163
C
1%
150
D
1%
150
E
0%
150
129
136
142
 +Easier 142.771 +SubsectionEasier

Citizen: Our government has a large budget surplus, which our leaders wish to use to pay down the national debt. This makes no sense. Because of underfunding, our military is inadequate, the infrastructures of our cities are decaying, and our highways are in disrepair. If homeowners used all their money to pay off their mortgages early, while refusing to pay for upkeep of their homes, this would not make them better off financially. The same goes for the country as a whole.

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Government leaders’ wish to use the surplus to pay down the national debt makes no sense. This is because the country is underfunded and needs money to make it better off. The author makes an analogous argument to a homeowner who uses all their money to pay off a debt instead of reinvesting it in the farm.

Identify Conclusion
The plan to use the budget surplus to pay down the national debt makes no sense.

A
Homeowners should not pay off their mortgages early if they must neglect upkeep of their homes in order to do so.
This is not the main conclusion of the argument. This is an analogy that lends support to the conclusion that the government leaders’ plan makes no sense.
B
It does not make sense for the government to use the budget surplus to pay down the national debt.
This is main point of the entire argument. It receives support from the following sentences and the analogy.
C
A homeowner’s personal financial situation is analogous in relevant ways to the financial situation of a country’s government.
While the author believes this, it is not the main conclusion of the argument. The author uses the homeowner as an analogy to support the conclusion that the plan does not make sense.
D
Because of underfunding, the government does not maintain adequate standards in the services it provides.
This is a premise that supports the argument’s main conclusion. This cannot be a conclusion because it does not receive support anywhere else in the argument.
E
Government leaders want to use the country’s large budget surplus to pay down the national debt.
The conclusion is *not* that the government wants to use the surplus to pay off the debt. The conclusion is that this plan does not make sense.

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LSAT PrepTest 148 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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