PT72.S3.Q11 - developing a nearby abandoned railroad grade into a hiking trail

dandandan

http://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-72-section-3-question-11/

Hi folks, I can't for the life of me figure out why the correct answer for question 11 in sec. 3 of the June 2014 test is choice A. (This is the question regarding citizen opposition to a new hiking trail on the grounds that users will litter.) Aren't both C and D better choices?

My thanks to anyone who has any idea!

chase62442

Hi!
I thought this was a tough question, too.

With answer C, what exactly is the contention it is trying to show? That is circular reasoning. The question would need to say something like "It's obvious to everyone that development in the trail should proceed. Therefore, development of the trail should proceed" in order for C to be right. It doesn't do that, so C is wrong.

D is wrong because it says a "few users" characterize the majority. But in the question stem it says "most" trail users would not litter. Most is a majority, so D is inaccurate.

A is the right answer choice because you can't decide that one thing is right just because someone else made an argument against it and they are wrong. I can't say I should throw my brother a surprise birthday party just because Anna said he doesn't like cake but she's wrong, he actually does like cake. There are a ton of other reasons why I should or shouldn't throw him a surprise party. Similarly, okay, maybe there wouldn't be litter but that doesn't -mean- they should build the trail. Maybe they don't want to chop down trees or disturb the environment or maybe there's some tax thing. So the argument is flawed in that it relies on the weakness of the opposing argument rather than on the strength of its own.

Hope that helps!