LSAT 147 – Section 4 – Question 12

LSAT 147 - Section 4 - Question 12

September 2016

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT147 S4 Q12
+LR
Method of reasoning or descriptive +Method
Math +Math
A
3%
158
B
15%
163
C
23%
159
D
8%
161
E
50%
166
154
163
173
 +Hardest 146.282 +SubsectionMedium

West: Of our company’s three quality control inspectors, Haynes is clearly the worst. Of the appliances that were returned to us last year because of quality control defects, half were inspected by Haynes.

Young: But Haynes inspects significantly more than half the appliances we sell each year.

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Young disputes West’s conclusion that Haynes is the worst inspector at the company. West cited the high proportion (50%) of returned defective appliances that were inspected by Haynes as support. In response, Young points out that Haynes inspects more than 50% of their sold appliances.

Describe Method of Reasoning
Young undermines West’s conclusion by disputing an implied assumption. West moves from a premise (Haynes inspected 50% of defective appliances) to a conclusion (Haynes is a bad inspector). West doesn’t say so outright, but his conclusion relies on the assumption that inspecting 50% of the defective appliances indicates that an inspector is bad.
Young provides more information (Haynes inspected more than 50% of all appliances) that casts doubt on this unspoken assumption.

A
contending that the argument presupposes what it is trying to prove
Young doesn’t suggest that West presupposes that his conclusion is true. He contends that a presupposition underlying West’s conclusion is false.
B
questioning the relevance of West’s conclusion
Young questions the accuracy of West’s conclusion, not its relevance. Questioning its relevance would be saying that it doesn’t matter whether Haynes is the worst inspector. West, by contrast, gives a reason to believe that Haynes isn’t the worst inspector.
C
disputing the accuracy of one of the argument’s stated premises
Young is disputing the accuracy of an unstated premise, not a stated premise. West has to assume that inspecting 50% of the defective appliances indicates that an inspector is bad, but he doesn’t explicitly state this. Compare to (E), which refers to a presupposition.
D
arguing for a less extreme version of West’s conclusion
West’s conclusion is about a binary question: either Haynes is the worst inspector or he isn’t. There are no more or less extreme versions of it that Young could be arguing for.
E
denying one of the argument’s presuppositions
A “presupposition” is an unstated assumption that must be true for a claim to make sense. West presupposes that inspecting 50% of the defective appliances means an inspector is bad. By providing context about Haynes’ share of inspections, Young challenges that presupposition.

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LSAT PrepTest 147 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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