LSAT 111 – Section 3 – Question 24

LSAT 111 - Section 3 - Question 24

October 2001

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT111 S3 Q24
+LR
+Exp
Weaken +Weak
Net Effect +NetEff
Math +Math
A
3%
159
B
9%
163
C
85%
167
D
3%
157
E
1%
155
141
151
160
 +Medium 147.206 +SubsectionMedium

Tony: A new kind of videocassette has just been developed. It lasts for only half as many viewings as the old kind does but costs a third as much. Therefore, video rental stores would find it significantly more economical to purchase and stock movies recorded on the new kind of videocassette than on the old kind.

Anna: But the videocassette itself only accounts for 5 percent of the price a video rental store pays to buy a copy of a movie on video; most of the price consists of royalties the store pays to the studio that produced the movie. So the price that video rental stores pay per copy would decrease by considerably less than 5 percent, and royalties would have to be paid on additional copies.

Summarize Argument
Without stating her conclusion directly, Anna argues that switching to the new videocassette will not save rental stores much money. Why? Because the actual videocassette costs little compared to royalties, and buying copies of movies more frequently would require the stores to pay those royalties more often.

Notable Assumptions
Anna assumes the new videocassette will not lead to a large increase in rentals. In addition, she assumes that rental stores routinely wear out videocassettes, or would do so if they switch to the new kind. She also assumes that a savings of far less than five percent is not “significantly more economical” than no savings, and that the royalties paid more often would be paid at a similar price.

A
The price that video rental stores pay for movies recorded on videocassettes is considerably less than the retail price of those movies.
This explains how the stores remain in business, not why switching to the new videocassette would save them money. If stores pay a small amount for videocassettes to begin with, then Tony’s position is more challenging to defend.
B
A significant proportion of the movies on videocassette purchased by video rental stores are bought as replacements for worn-out copies of movies the stores already have in stock.
This doesn’t imply the stores would avoid paying royalties on those purchases. It’s possible a store pays royalties each time it purchases a new videocassette, in which case this fact would not save rental stores money.
C
The royalty fee included in the price that video rental stores pay for movies on the new kind of videocassette will be half that included in the price of movies on the old kind.
This weakens Anna’s argument by questioning her assumption that the new videocassette would only save stores money on the physical copies. If stores will also save on royalty costs, their total savings may be much greater than 5 percent.
D
Given a choice, customers are more likely to buy a movie on videocassette than to rent it if the rental fee is more than half of the purchase price.
Since it is unknown how rental fees and purchase prices compare, this information is useless. It cannot be applied to video rental stores in total.
E
Many of the movies rented from video rental stores, particularly children’s movies, average several viewings per rental fee.
This may explain why the videocassettes get worn out, but does not support either speaker’s argument. Neither Anna nor Tony relies on the rate that videocassettes need replaced for their argument.

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LSAT PrepTest 111 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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