LSAT 140 – Section 2 – Question 09

LSAT 140 - Section 2 - Question 09

December 2013

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT140 S2 Q09
+LR
+Exp
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Link Assumption +LinkA
Eliminating Options +ElimOpt
A
2%
158
B
1%
154
C
3%
158
D
7%
154
E
87%
165
138
146
154
 +Medium 149.441 +SubsectionMedium

CEO: We have been falsely criticized for not being an environmentally responsible corporation. Environmentally responsible corporations are corporations that do all they can to pollute less. Our current production methods pollute significantly less than our old methods did, and there currently are no methods that do not produce any pollution.

Summarize Argument
The CEO concludes the corporation has been falsely criticized for not being environmentally responsible. She supports this with the following premises:

(1) Environmentally responsible corporations do all they can to pollute less.

(2) The corporation’s new production methods pollute less than the old ones.

(3) No methods exist that produce no pollution at all.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The CEO assumes that the corporation is doing all that it can to pollute less. But just because their new methods are better than their old ones, doesn’t necessarily mean that the corporation is doing all that it can. What if there are other methods that would allow it to pollute even less than it does now? In that case, the corporation isn’t doing all that it can and so it isn’t environmentally responsible.

A
takes for granted that production methods that do not produce pollution cannot be developed
It doesn't matter whether production methods that do not produce pollution can be developed in the future. Because there are currently no methods that do not produce pollution, the corporation might be doing all that it can now, even if better methods are developed later.
B
fails to take into account the possibility that different causes can have similar effects
The CEO’s argument doesn't rely on causal reasoning. Instead, the CEO assumes that her corporation is doing all it can to reduce pollution.
C
generalizes too hastily from the inapplicability of a specific criticism to the inapplicability of a class of criticisms
The CEO only addresses the specific criticism that her corporation is not environmentally responsible. She argues that this criticism is false, but never generalizes about any other criticisms.
D
takes for granted that because the company has attempted to reduce the amount of pollution produced, they must have succeeded
The CEO doesn’t assume that the corporation has succeeded in reducing the amount of pollution it produces, she explicitly states that it has. She says, “Our current production methods pollute significantly less than our old methods did.” So the corporation did succeed.
E
ignores the possibility that there are currently production methods that would allow the corporation to produce less pollution than it does now
To be environmentally responsible, the corporation must be doing all that it can to pollute less. If there are production methods that would allow the corporation to produce less pollution than it does now, then it isn’t doing all it can and it isn’t environmentally responsible.

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LSAT PrepTest 140 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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