LSAT 137 – Section 2 – Question 13

LSAT 137 - Section 2 - Question 13

October 2012

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT137 S2 Q13	+LR	Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw Sampling +Smpl Link Assumption +LinkA Fact v. Belief v. Knowledge +FvBvK	A 51% 162 B 4% 159 C 1% 153 D 1% 155 E 44% 166	152 167 180	+Hardest	146.731 +SubsectionMedium

Although most builders do not consider the experimental building material papercrete to be a promising material for large-scale construction, those who regularly work with it, primarily on small-scale projects, think otherwise. Since those who regularly use papercrete are familiar with the properties of the material, it is likely that papercrete is indeed promising for large-scale construction.

Summarize Argument

Contrary to the opinion of most builders, the author concludes that it’s likely papercrete is promising for large-scale construction. This is because those who regularly work with papercrete think it’s promising, and those people are familiar with the properties of the material.

Identify and Describe Flaw

The author cites to the familarity with papercrete properties among those who regularly work with papercrete. This familiarity is why the author favors their opinion over most builders. But this assumes that most builders do not have familarity with papercrete properties. If they do, then familiarity with papercrete is no longer a basis to give weight to one opinion over the other.

confuses what is promising for small-scale construction with what is promising for large-scale construction

The author doesn’t assume that what’s promising for small-scale must also be promising for large-scale. He relies on the opinion of those who regularly work with papercrete. Also, we don’t know that papercrete actually is promising for small-scale.

presumes that what the majority of builders thinks is promising must in fact be promising

Most builders don’t consider papercrete promising for large-scale construction. So the author is actually going against majority opinion.

equivocates between two different meanings of the term “promising”

There’s no indication “promising” means two different things in the argument. “Promising” uses the ordinary dictionary definition for this context (definition = showing signs of future success).

does not consider the views of the builders who have the most experience working with the material

If we assume those who use papercrete regularly have the most experience, the author does consider their views. If we don’t know whether they have the most experience, then (D) is inaccurate because we don’t know whether the author ignored the views of the most experienced.

fails to consider that most builders might not regularly use papercrete precisely because they are familiar with its properties

(E) points out that the builders who don’t think papercrete is promising might be familiar with papercrete’s properties. So, pointing to the familiarity of those who do think papercrete is promising is no longer a reason to rely on their opinion over the opinion of most builders.

LSAT 137 – Section 2 – Question 13

LSAT 137 - Section 2 - Question 13

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LSAT PrepTest 137 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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