LSAT 130 – Section 1 – Question 03

LSAT 130 - Section 1 - Question 03

September 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT130 S1 Q03
+LR
Strengthen +Streng
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
0%
152
B
5%
158
C
2%
153
D
11%
158
E
82%
165
138
148
158
 +Medium 147.03 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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Letter to the editor: The Planning Department budget increased from $100,000 in 2001 to $524,000 for this year. However, this does not justify your conclusion in yesterday’s editorial that the department now spends five times as much money as it did in 2001 to perform the same duties.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that the Planning Department’s budget increase from $100,000 to $524,000 doesn’t justify the claim that the Planning Department spends five times as much to perform the same duties. No support is provided for this argument.

Notable Assumptions
In order for the author to claim that the budget increase doesn’t mean the Planning Department now spends five times as much to perform the same duties, the author must assume that the Planning Department has taken on new duties or else expanded the scope of its current duties.

A
Departments other than the Planning Department have had much larger budget increases since 2001.
We don’t care about other departments. We care about whether the budget increase for the Planning Department means that department now spends five times as much to perform the same duties.
B
Since 2001, the Planning Department has dramatically reduced its spending on overtime pay.
We don’t care. The Planning Department has increased its budget by 500%, and this doesn’t tell us the department has taken on new duties.
C
In some years between 2001 and this year, the Planning Department budget did not increase.
We don’t care. The fact remains its budget has gone up from $100,000 to $524,000.
D
The budget figures used in the original editorial were adjusted for inflation.
This doesn’t strengthen the author’s argument. We care about whether the Planning Department is doing more work given how much it now spends.
E
A restructuring act, passed in 2003, broadened the duties of the Planning Department.
The Planning Department’s 500% budget increase has been accompanied by expanded duties. Thus, the Planning Department certainly isn’t spending five times as much to do the same duties as before.

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LSAT PrepTest 130 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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