LSAT 16 – Section 2 – Question 09

LSAT 16 - Section 2 - Question 09

September 1995

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT16 S2 Q09	+LR	Must be true +MBT	A 0% 145 B 13% 163 C 80% 167 D 3% 156 E 3% 169	122 141 160	+Easier	146.82 +SubsectionMedium

This is a must be true question, because the stem asks: If the statements above are true, then which one of the following must also be true*?*

The stimulus gives us a period of time, the 16 years between 1973 and 1989, and tells us that three things happened during it; total energy use increased less than 10%, specifically electrical energy use grew by more than 50%, and GNP grew by more than 50%. Important things to note are the distinction between the superset general energy use and the subset electrical energy use, as well as the equivalence in percentage growth between electrical energy use and GNP. On to the answers:

Answer Choice (A) The problem with this answer is we know little about overall energy usage. We know the growth of total energy use and of specifically electrical energy use, but we don’t know how the two compare. Let’s say the total energy was 100J, and it increased by less than 10% to 109J. For all we know electrical energy was only 1J and only grew to 2 J. While electrical energy did grow by more than 50%, it still represents an insignificant portion, less than 2%, of total energy use.

Answer Choice (B) This answer wants you to make a similar error as A and assume that electrical energy represents a significant portion of total energy. If this were true, then the much lower growth of energy overall would suggest a decline of non-electrical energy. But we cannot make these assumptions; the correct answer will be certain given the information in the stimulus.

Correct Answer Choice (C) This answer relies on you correctly inferring that if the growth of a whole is lower than the growth of one of its parts, that part grew proportional to the whole. Since we know that total energy use couldn’t have grown more than 10%, and electrical energy use couldn’t have grown less than 50%, the electrical energy use must have grown as a proportion of total energy use. To use our 100J example, 2J is a greater proportion of 109J than 1J is of 100J.

Answer Choice (D) This answer wants you to infer a stronger connection from a mere correlation. We are not entitled to make the assumptions necessary for that inference.

Answer Choice (E) This answer involves non-electrical energy as well as the relationship between GNP and electrical energy use. Because we aren’t given real insight into either of these things in the stimulus, this is a could be false answer.

LSAT 16 – Section 2 – Question 09

LSAT 16 - Section 2 - Question 09

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LSAT PrepTest 16 Explanations

Section 1 - Logic Games

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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