LSAT 144 – Section 2 – Question 11

LSAT 144 - Section 2 - Question 11

October 2015

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT144 S2 Q11
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
80%
165
B
16%
159
C
1%
155
D
0%
155
E
3%
159
135
147
159
 +Medium 148.975 +SubsectionMedium

A hardware store generally sells roughly equal numbers of Maxlast brand hammers and Styron brand hammers. Last week, all of the Maxlast hammers were put on sale and placed in a display case just inside the store entrance while the Styron hammers retained their usual price and location. Surprisingly, the Styron hammers slightly outsold the Maxlast hammers.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why did Styron hammers outsell Maxlast hammers at the hardware store last week, even though both brands usually sell equally, and Maxlast hammers were on sale and displayed at the store entrance last week, while Styron hammers stayed at their regular spot and price?

Objective
The correct answer will be a hypothesis that explains a key difference in customers’ interest in the hammer brands before and after last week’s changes. It must either result in customers being more likely to buy Styron hammers, or less likely to buy Maxlast hammers.

A
For the first several seconds after shoppers enter a store, they do not take detailed notice of the store’s merchandise.
This explains the shift in customer interest in the hammer brands after last week's changes. Since customers don’t pay close attention in the first few seconds after entering a store, they were less likely to notice the Maxlast hammers displayed at the entrance.
B
Most of the hardware store’s customers are attracted by quality and service rather than low prices.
Just because customers prefer quality over low prices doesn’t mean they see lower-priced items as lower quality. Also, we don’t know which hammer brand is higher quality, or if they’re the same quality. So, we still can’t explain why Styron hammers outsold Maxlast last week.
C
Customers who bought the Maxlast hammers last week commonly mentioned the sale as their reason for buying a hammer at that time.
This makes the sale results even more surprising. If some customers bought Maxlast hammers because of the sale, why didn’t more customers do the same? We still don’t know why Styron hammers outsold Maxlast hammers during the week of the Maxlast sale.
D
The hardware store circulated flyers that publicized the sale prices on Maxlast hammers.
Again, this makes the sale results even more surprising. If the hardware store advertised the Maxlast sale, why did Styron hammers still outsell Maxlast hammers?
E
In general, a single item that is on sale will not motivate shoppers to make a special trip to a store.
Even if shoppers didn’t make a special trip to the hardware store to buy the discounted Maxlast hammers, it’s still surprising that Styron outsold Maxlast, especially because both brands usually sell equally.

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LSAT PrepTest 144 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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