LSAT 135 – Section 2 – Question 20

LSAT 135 - Section 2 - Question 20

December 2011

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT135 S2 Q20
+LR
+Exp
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
A
2%
154
B
2%
155
C
8%
156
D
2%
155
E
86%
164
137
146
155
 +Medium 146.729 +SubsectionMedium

There are two ways to manage an existing transportation infrastructure: continuous maintenance at adequate levels, and periodic radical reconstruction. Continuous maintenance dispenses with the need for radical reconstruction, and radical reconstruction is necessitated by failing to perform continuous maintenance. Over the long run, continuous maintenance is far less expensive; nevertheless, it almost never happens.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why are highways rarely maintained continuously when doing so is cheaper than rebuilding them periodically?

Objective
Any hypothesis resolving this discrepancy will state another difference between continuous maintenance and radical reconstruction that explains why continuous maintenance is rare. This difference will make continuous maintenance unattractive or unattainable despite its lower cost in the long run.

A
Since different parts of the transportation infrastructure are the responsibility of different levels of government, radical reconstruction projects are very difficult to coordinate efficiently.
This deepens the mystery. If radical reconstruction is more difficult than continuous maintenance, why is it more common?
B
When funds for transportation infrastructure maintenance are scarce, they are typically distributed in proportion to the amount of traffic that is borne by different elements of the infrastructure.
This is not relevant. It is not implied whether infrastructure bearing heavy traffic is more or less likely to receive funds for continuous maintenance.
C
If continuous maintenance is performed at less-than-adequate levels, the need for radical reconstruction will often arise later than if maintenance had been restricted to responding to emergencies.
This deepens the mystery. If even sporadic maintenance delays the expensive radical reconstruction projects, even imperfect continuous maintenance is a worthwhile investment.
D
Radical reconstruction projects are, in general, too costly to be paid for from current revenue.
This does not explain why radical reconstruction projects are more common than continuous maintenance. It is not implied whether projects funded with current revenue are more or less favorable than those not funded with current revenue.
E
For long periods, the task of regular maintenance lacks urgency, since the consequences of neglecting it are very slow to manifest themselves.
This explains why continuous maintenance is so rare. Though cheaper in the long run, it is not perceived as urgent, and so receives a low priority.

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LSAT PrepTest 135 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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