http://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-30-section-2-question-20/I found this question especially tricky because of what I perceive to be a logic gap in the stimulus. The critics argument can be boiled down to (Justified public funding) -> (indicated that public will benefit). The stimulus then goes on to say if this relationship holds true, then we would not be seeing the public support for this project, suggesting
!(indicated that public will benefit) -> !(justified public funding for this project) -> !(public support)
Is this the right interpretation? I have trouble accepting the second part which asserts that justification of public funding is necessary for public support of a project. I don't see where this is verified in the stimulus.
Comments
"Justified public funding ---> Indicated that public will benefit"
Then we're given a second conditional statement: "if the critics were right about this, then there would be not be tremendous support..." The tricky part is remembering that the "this" refers back to our original conditional statement. In other words, the sufficient condition of our second conditional statement is its own conditional statement. The diagram looks like this:
[Justified public funding---> Indicated that public will benefit project] ---> ~Tremendous public support
But then we're told that the there actually is a tremendous amount of public support. Using this piece of information, we can make a valid inference (i.e. take the contrapositive) from the conditional statement above.
Tremendous public support ---> ~[Justified public funding---> Indicated that public will benefit project]
What does this inference say? Well, because there is a lot of tremendous public support, the critic's conditional statement is false. What does it mean when a conditional statement is false? Essentially, it means we can have the sufficient condition occur and not have the necessary condition follow. This is the inference the question wants us to make, and it is represented perfectly by answer choice E.
Hope this helps! Let me know something doesn't make sense