LSAT 121 – Section 1 – Question 24

LSAT 121 - Section 1 - Question 24

December 2005

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT121 S1 Q24
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Math +Math
A
1%
155
B
17%
161
C
27%
160
D
12%
160
E
43%
167
159
166
173
 +Hardest 145.604 +SubsectionMedium

Journalist: Although a recent poll found that more than half of all eligible voters support the idea of a political party whose primary concern is education, only 26 percent would like to join it, and only 16 percent would be prepared to donate money to it. Furthermore, there is overwhelming historical evidence that only a party that has at least 30 percent of eligible voters prepared to support it by either joining it or donating money to it is viable in the long run. Therefore, it is unlikely that an education party is viable in the long run.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that it’s unlikely an education party is viable in the long run. This is based on the following:

Historically, in order to be viable in the long run, a party needs at least 30% of eligible voters prepared to support it by joining it or by donating money to it.

According to a recent poll, only 26% of eligible voters are prepared to join an education party, and only 16% of eligible voters are prepared to donate money to one.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author overlooks the possibility that the combination of people who are prepared to join and people who are prepared to donate would exceed 30%. In other words, the author takes for granted that the set of people who are prepared to donate is completely contained within the set who are prepared to join. But this doesn’t have to be true. Some people might want to donate without wanting to join.

A
some of those who said they were willing to donate money to an education party might not actually do so if such a party were formed
If even fewer people donate than expected, that doesn’t undermine the argument. If anything, that suggests the level of support for an education party is even lower.
B
an education party could possibly be viable with a smaller base than is customarily needed
The author noted that an education party is “unlikely” to be viable. This recognizes that it’s possible some education parties might be able to gain viability even if they don’t meet the requirements observed based on the historical evidence.
C
the 16 percent of eligible voters prepared to donate money to an education party might donate almost as much money as a party would ordinarily expect to get if 30 percent of eligible voters contributed
The overall amount of money donated is irrelevant to the author’s reasoning, because the historical evidence relied on is about % of voters who are prepared to join or donate. The historical requirement for viability isn’t about the amount of money that a party needs.
D
a party needs the appropriate support of at least 30 percent of eligible voters in order to be viable and more than half of all eligible voters support the idea of an education party
The author considers this. The author acknowledges that over 50% support the idea of an education party, but states that historically there are specific kinds of support required (join/donate). That’s why the author thinks the “over 50% support” isn’t enough for viability.
E
some of the eligible voters who would donate money to an education party might not be prepared to join such a party
If some of the voters who would donate are not those who would join, that shows it’s possible the combination of voters who would join plus the voters who would donate could exceed 30%. This is why the premises don’t show that an education party is likely to fail.

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LSAT PrepTest 121 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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