LSAT 148 – Section 4 – Question 11

LSAT 148 - Section 4 - Question 11

December 2016

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT148 S4 Q11
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Sampling +Smpl
Value Judgment +ValJudg
Fact v. Belief v. Knowledge +FvBvK
A
83%
163
B
3%
160
C
8%
158
D
1%
161
E
6%
158
128
142
155
 +Medium 147.694 +SubsectionMedium

University spokesperson: Most of the students surveyed at the university said they would prefer that the current food vendor be replaced with a different food vendor next year. Several vendors have publicly expressed interest in working for the university. For a variety of reasons, however, the only alternative to the current vendor is Hall Dining Services, which served as the university’s food vendor up until this past year. Since, other things being equal, the preferences of the majority of students should be adhered to, we should rehire Hall Dining next year.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that we should hire Hall Dining next year. This is based on the following:

Most of the students surveyed said they would prefer that the current food vendor be replaced by a different vendor.

The only alternative to the current vendor is Hall Dining.

All else equal, we should adhere to the preferences of the majority of students.

Identify and Describe Flaw
Although most students might want to replace the current food vendor, this doesn’t imply that most students want the current food vendor replaced with Hall Dining. It’s possible, for example, that many of those students want the vendor replaced with a different alternative besides Hall Dining.

A
overlooks the possibility that the students surveyed were unaware that only Hall Dining Services could be hired if the current vendor were not hired
This points out that the students might not prefer Hall Dining to the current vendor. If they thought other alternatives were available, they might have preferred other alternatives to the current vendor. But they might have preferred the current vendor over Hall Dining.
B
relies on a sample that is likely to be unrepresentative
We have no reason to believe that the survey involved an unrepresentative sample of students.
C
overlooks the possibility that student preference is not the only factor to be considered when it comes to deciding which food vendor the university should hire
The author stated that preferences of most students should be adhered to, “all other things being equal.” This acknowledges that there can be other factors that are relevant. The argument is concerned with what we should do if those other factors are held equal.
D
overlooks the possibility that there is disagreement among students concerning the issue of food vendors
The author doesn’t overlook the possibility that there is disagreement among students concerning this issue. The author states that “most” students prefer replacing the current vendor. This acknowledges that there might be some students who disagree and prefer the current vendor.
E
argues that a certain action ought to be undertaken merely on the grounds that it would be popular
The recomm. to hire Hall Dining is not based “only” on the popularity of this decision. The author provides premises that aren’t related to popularity (such as the fact Hall Dining is the only alternative,) Also, the premises do not state that hiring Hall Dining would be popular.

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LSAT PrepTest 148 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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