LSAT 148 – Section 3 – Question 10

LSAT 148 - Section 3 - Question 10

December 2016

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT148 S3 Q10
+LR
+Exp
Weaken +Weak
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Value Judgment +ValJudg
A
3%
159
B
20%
160
C
50%
166
D
18%
159
E
8%
156
153
163
172
 +Hardest 149.233 +SubsectionMedium

Council chair: The traditional code of parliamentary procedure contains a large number of obscure, unnecessary rules, which cause us to quibble interminably over procedural details and so to appear unworthy of public confidence. Admittedly, the code is entrenched and widely accepted. But success in our endeavors depends on the public’s having confidence in our effectiveness. Therefore, it is imperative that we adopt the alternate code, which has been in successful use elsewhere for several years.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that we need to adopt the alternate code. This is because the traditional code contains a lot of obscure, unnecessary rules, which lead to debates over procedural details, which in turn leads to a decline in public confidence in the council. Public confidence is necessary for the council to be successful. In addition, the alternate code has been used successfully elsewhere.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that there are no downsides to the alternate code that would outweigh the harm caused by the traditional code. The author also assumes that, if we want to avoid the problems of the traditional code, there’s no other option besides adopting the alternate code.

A
The council’s use of the problematic rules in the traditional code is intermittent.
Whether the problematic rules are used intermittently or continuously, there are still negative aspects of the traditional rule. The fact a problem might occur intermittently does not suggest the problem is minor or does not need to be fixed.
B
Those who have adopted the alternate code sometimes attempt to use it to obscure their opponents’ understanding of procedures.
Attempts to use the other code to confuse opponents does not suggest these attempts are successful or that they would lead to the same debates and decline in public confidence that the traditional rules lead to.
C
Revision of the traditional code is underway that will eliminate the problematic rules.
This undermines the assumption that avoiding the problem of the traditional code requires adopting the alternate one. (C) presents an alternative — if we can just remove the problematic rules from the traditional code, then it’s no longer “imperative” to adopt the alternate code.
D
It is not always reasonable to adopt a different code in order to maintain the public’s confidence.
We get a specific reason to think that changing codes to maintain public confidence is reasonable here — the council’s success depends on the public’s having confidence. Changing might not always be reasonable, but the author gives a specific reason to think it may be here.
E
The alternate code contains few provisions that have thus far been criticized as obscure or unnecessary.
(E) tells us that the alternate code doesn’t have many provisions that are criticized as obscure/unnecessary. This is a point in favor of the alternate code, because we know the traditional code has a “large number” of obscure/unnecessary rules.

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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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