LSAT 154 – Section 4 – Question 21

LSAT 154 - Section 4 - Question 21

September 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT154 S4 Q21
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Link Assumption +LinkA
Math +Math
A
60%
166
B
26%
162
C
3%
152
D
8%
155
E
2%
152
147
158
170
 +Harder 147.301 +SubsectionMedium

Engineer: Air bags in automobiles occasionally cause injuries by accidentally inflating when no collision has occurred. Automobile manufacturers are attempting to fix the problem by inventing more elaborate computer control systems for air bags. But the more complex such a system is, the more ways there are in which it can fail. Thus, the new computer control systems will probably only make the problems with accidental air bag inflation even worse.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that new, more complicated computer control systems for controlling air bags will probably increase the likelihood of accidental air bag inflation. This is because the new systems have more ways to fail than the older air bag control systems.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that have a greater number of ways to fail implies a greater overall chance of failing. This doesn’t have to be true. Maybe, for example, there are now twice as many ways to fail. But each of those ways might have a tiny chance of occurring, such that the overall chance of failure is not necessarily higher than the chance that older systems would fail. Older systems might have had just one or two ways to fail, but each way could have had a very high chance of occurring.

A
It fails to address adequately the possibility that the likelihood of a system’s failing need not increase with the number of ways in which it can fail.
This possibility points out why the conclusion doesn’t follow. The chance a system fails does not have to increase just because the number of ways to fail increases. The overall chance of failure might go down, even if the number of ways to fail goes up.
B
It takes for granted that any failure in an air bag’s computer control system will cause that air bag to inflate accidentally.
The author believes a more complex system involving more ways of failure will involve more instances of air bag inflation. But this doesn’t mean the author thinks every failure involves air bag inflation. There can be some failures that don’t lead to inflated air bags.
C
It fails to address adequately the possibility that air bags may often accidentally inflate even when their computer control systems do not fail.
This possibility doesn’t undermine the argument. There can be accidental inflation even when systems don’t fail. That doesn’t undermine the belief that a greater number of ways to fail implies a greater chance of accidental air bag inflation.
D
It overlooks the possibility that, even if the new computer control systems exacerbate the problems with accidental air bag inflation, they may have advantages that outweigh this disadvantage.
The author’s conclusion is not about whether we should implement the new control systems. So whether there are advantages or disadvantages to the new system have no bearing on whether the new system is more likely to lead to accidental air bag inflation.
E
It overlooks the possibility that, even if air bags occasionally cause accidental injuries, they may nonetheless be responsible for preventing many more injuries than they cause.
This possibility doesn’t undermine the argument. Whether airbags prevent more injuries than they cause doesn’t affect whether there will be more accidental air bag inflation with the more complex system.

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LSAT PrepTest 154 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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