LSAT 135 – Section 4 – Question 03

LSAT 135 - Section 4 - Question 03

December 2011

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT135 S4 Q03
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Math +Math
A
0%
154
B
0%
151
C
2%
158
D
96%
165
E
1%
155
123
133
142
 +Easiest 147.853 +SubsectionMedium

Travel industry consultant: Several airlines are increasing elbow room and leg room in business class, because surveys show that business travelers value additional space more than, say, better meals. But airlines are overconcerned about the comfort of passengers flying on business; they should instead focus on the comfort of leisure travelers, because those travelers purchase 80 percent of all airline tickets.

Summarize Argument
The travel industry consultant concludes that these airlines are too concerned about the comfort of business class travelers and should instead prioritize the comfort of leisure travelers. He bases this on the fact that 80% of all airline tickets are purchased by leisure travelers.

Notable Assumptions
The travel industry consultant assumes that the comfort of leisure travelers is more important than the comfort of business class travelers, simply because leisure travelers purchase more tickets.
He also assumes that, just because leisure travelers purchase 80% of airline tickets overall, they also purchase 80% of tickets on each airline. It’s possible that the airlines that conducted these surveys are luxury airlines with far fewer leisure travelers than most airlines have.

A
Business travelers often make travel decisions based on whether they feel a given airline values their business.
This may explain why airlines are working to improve business travelers’ comfort, but it doesn’t weaken the conclusion that airlines should instead focus on leisure travelers. We can’t assume that focusing on leisure travelers would make business travelers feel less valued.
B
Some airlines have indicated that they will undertake alterations in seating space throughout the entire passenger area of their planes in the near future.
We don't know what "alterations" means here. It could mean reducing space for leisure travelers to increase it for business travelers. Either way, (B) doesn't weaken the conclusion that airlines should prioritize leisure travelers over business travelers.
C
Sleeping in comfort during long flights is not the primary concern of leisure travelers.
It doesn’t matter what the primary concern of leisure travelers is. We need an answer choice that shows that just because they purchase 80% of all airline tickets doesn’t mean that leisure travelers’ comfort is more important than other passengers’ comfort.
D
A far greater proportion of an airline’s revenues is derived from business travelers than from leisure travelers.
(D) weakens the argument by implying that the assumption that leisure travelers’ comfort is more important because they purchase 80% of airline tickets is false. Just because they purchase more tickets, doesn’t mean that leisure travelers contribute more to airlines’ revenues.
E
Most leisure travelers buy airline tickets only when fares are discounted.
This doesn’t weaken the author’s conclusion because we don’t know how much these discounted fares affect airlines’ profits. The assumption remains that, just because leisure travelers purchase 80% of tickets, their comfort should be prioritized.

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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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