LSAT 103 – Section 3 – Question 21

LSAT 103 - Section 3 - Question 21

September 1998

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Target time: 1:13

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT103 S3 Q21
+LR
Sufficient assumption +SA
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
7%
163
B
10%
162
C
71%
169
D
3%
155
E
8%
160
153
160
167
 +Hardest 148.537 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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The companies that are the prime purchasers of computer software will not buy a software package if the costs of training staff to use it are high, and we know that it is expensive to teach people a software package that demands the memorization of unfamiliar commands. As a result, to be successful, commercial computer software cannot require users to memorize unfamiliar commands.

Summary
The argument concludes that in order to be successful, the software cannot demand memorization of unfamiliar commands. This is based on the following two premises:
If training costs are high, prime purchasers of the software won’t buy it.
If a software demands memorization of unfamiliar commands, then the training costs are high.

Missing Connection
We want to reach the conclusion that if a software demands memorization of unfamiliar commands, it won’t be successful. “Won’t be successful” is a new concept in the conclusion; the premises don’t tell us what leads to lack of success.
But we do know from the two premises together that if a software demands memorization of unfamiliar commands, the prime purchasers won’t buy it.
If we learn that “prime purchasers won’t buy” establishes “unsuccessful,” that will establish that if a software demands memorization of unfamiliar commands, it won’t be successful. In other words, we want to learn that in order to be successful, a software needs prime purchasers to buy it.

A
If most prime purchasers of computer software buy a software product, that product will be successful.
(A) establishes what is sufficient for a software product to be successful. But we’re trying to establish what’s sufficient for a software product to be UNsuccessful. Or, you could also say that we’re looking for what’s necessary for the product to be successful. Learning what’s sufficient for success doesn’t prove what’s necessary for success.
B
Commercial computer software that does not require users to memorize unfamiliar commands is no more expensive than software that does.
(B) compares the expense of different kinds of software. But it doesn’t tell us anything about what’s required for success, or what’s sufficient to lead to lack of success.
C
Commercial computer software will not be successful unless prime purchasers buy it.
(C) establishes that in order for a software product to be successful, its prime purchasers must buy it. Since we know from the premises that if a product demands memorization of unfamiliar commands, prime purchasers won’t buy it, adding (C) now establishes that if a product demands memorization of unfamiliar commands, it won’t be successful.
D
If the initial cost of computer software is high, but the cost of training users is low, prime purchasers will still buy that software.
(D) doesn’t tell us anything about what’s required for success, or what’s sufficient to lead to lack of success.
E
The more difficult it is to learn how to use a piece of software, the more expensive it is to teach a person to use that software.
(E) doesn’t tell us anything about what’s required for success, or what’s sufficient to lead to lack of success.

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LSAT PrepTest 103 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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