LSAT 117 – Section 4 – Question 20

LSAT 117 - Section 4 - Question 20

October 2004

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT117 S4 Q20
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
A
4%
158
B
7%
157
C
31%
161
D
41%
165
E
16%
157
156
166
176
 +Hardest 147.423 +SubsectionMedium

Advertisement: Each of the Economic Merit Prize winners from the past 25 years is covered by the Acme retirement plan. Since the winners of the nation’s most prestigious award for economists have thus clearly recognized that the Acme plan offers them a financially secure future, it is probably a good plan for anyone with retirement needs similar to theirs.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that the Acme retirement plan is probably a good plan for anyone with retirement needs similar to the Economic Merit Prize winners. This is based on the fact that each of the winners from the past 25 years is covered by the Acme retirement plan. The author interprets this fact as showing that the prize-winners have recognized that the plan is a good one for them.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that the reason the winners have the Acme plan is that they believe the plan is a good one for them. This overlooks the possibility that they have the plan for some other reason unrelated to their perception of the plan’s quality. The author also assumes that if the winners believe the Acme plan is good for them, then that constitutes evidence that the plan actually is good for people with similar retirement needs.

A
It ignores the possibility that the majority of Economic Merit Prize winners from previous years used a retirement plan other than the Acme plan.
This possibility does not undermine the argument because prize-winners with other plans might simply have different retirement needs from the prize-winners the author cites to. Also, the author does not assert that the Acme plan is the best, or that it is the only good plan.
B
It fails to address adequately the possibility that any of several retirement plans would be good enough for, and offer a financially secure future to, Economic Merit Prize winners.
This possibility does not undermine the argument because the author does not assume that the Acme plan is the best. He states only that the prize-winners recognize that the Acme plan is “probably a good plan” for people wit similar needs. But there can be other good plans, too.
C
It appeals to the fact that supposed experts have endorsed the argument’s main conclusion, rather than appealing to direct evidence for that conclusion.
The main concluson is that the Acme plan is probably a good plan for anyone with retirement needs similar to those of the prize-winners. The author does not state or assume that the prize-winners endorse that specific conclusion.
D
It takes for granted that some winners of the Economic Merit Prize have deliberately selected the Acme retirement plan, rather than having had it chosen for them by their employers.
The author assumes that the reason some prize-winners have the Acme plan is that they perceive it to be good for them. This requires that the plan was not forced upon them. If it was, then the the fact some of them have the Acme plan does not tell us about their perception of it.
E
It presumes, without providing justification, that each of the Economic Merit Prize winners has retirement plan needs that are identical to the advertisement’s intended audience’s retirement plan needs.
The author’s conclusion is limited to “anyone with retirement needs similar to [the prize-winners’].” This acknowledges that some people might not have identical retirement needs.

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LSAT PrepTest 117 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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