Section Types Logical Reasoning

Company president: Whenever you subcontract the manufacturing of a product, you lose some control over the quality of that product. We do subcontract some manufacturing, but only with companies that maintain complete control over the quality of the products they supply.

Summary

Company president:

Subcontracting manufacturing means losing some control over product quality.

We do subcontract some manufacturing.

We only subcontract with companies that have complete control over the quality of their products.

Very Strongly Supported Conclusions

The president’s company loses some control over its product quality.

The company’s subcontractors do not lose any control over their product quality.

The company’s subcontractors do not subcontract their manufacturing.

A

When the president’s company subcontracts manufacturing of a product, it does not allow the subcontractor to further subcontract manufacturing of that product.

Very strongly supported. Subcontracting manufacturing means losing some control over product quality. But the company’s subcontractors “maintain complete control over the quality of the products they supply.” So the subcontractors must not further subcontract their manufacturing.

B

Companies that subcontract the manufacturing of products are often disappointed in the quality of those products.

Unsupported. Subcontracting manufacturing reduces control over product quality, but it doesn't necessarily mean lower quality. It also doesn’t mean that companies will be disappointed with the quality of products that have been manufactured by a subcontractor.

C

The company president insists on having as much control as possible over the quality of the company’s products.

Anti-supported. Subcontracting manufacturing means losing some control over product quality. Since the company president subcontracts some manufacturing, he likely doesn’t insist on having as much control as possible over product quality.

D

When consumers know that a product has been manufactured by a subcontractor, they are generally dubious about the product’s quality.

Unsupported. Subcontracting manufacturing reduces control over product quality, but it doesn't necessarily mean lower quality. It also doesn’t mean that customers will question the quality of a product that has been manufactured by a subcontractor.

E

When a company manufactures some products in-house and subcontracts the manufacturing of others, the products made in-house will be of uniformly better quality.

Unsupported. Subcontracting manufacturing reduces control over product quality, but it doesn't necessarily mean lower quality. Just because a product is made in-house doesn’t ensure that it will be of better quality.

9 comments

LSAT 140 - Section 3 - Question 11

January 19, 2014

Secondary school students achieve broad mastery of the curriculum if they are taught with methods appropriate to their learning styles and they devote significant effort to their studies. Thus, if such broad mastery is not achieved by the students in a particular secondary school, those students are not being taught with methods appropriate to their learning styles.

Summary

The conclusion is that if broad mastery isn’t achieved, it must be that the students aren’t taught with appropriate methods. As support, the author gives a conditional premise: appropriate methods, combined with significant effort, lead to broad mastery. (Contrapositive: if broad mastery isn’t achieved, there either weren’t appropriate methods or there wasn’t significant effort.)

Missing Connection

The premise says that a lack of broad mastery means one of two things: a lack of appropriate methods or a lack of significant effort. But the conclusion is that broad mastery means one thing only: a lack of appropriate methods.
The conclusion would follow if we assumed that when there’s a lack of significant effort, there must also be a lack of appropriate methods. In that case, no matter what, a lack of broad mastery always means a lack of appropriate methods.

A

As long as secondary school students are taught with methods appropriate to their learning styles, they will devote significant effort to their studies.

Contrapositive: if students don’t devote significant effort, it must be that they’re not taught with appropriate methods. This means that no matter what, a lack of broad mastery means that student’s aren’t being taught with appropriate methods.

B

Even if secondary school students are taught with methods appropriate to their learning styles, they will not achieve broad mastery of the curriculum if they do not devote significant effort to their studies.

This says a lack of significant effort is sufficient for a lack of broad mastery. But this doesn’t change the argument’s core problem: a lack of broad mastery can mean either a lack of appropriate methods or a lack of significant effort. We’re still no closer to the conclusion.

C

Secondary school students do not achieve broad mastery of the curriculum if they are not taught with methods appropriate to their learning styles.

This says a lack of appropriate methods is sufficient for a lack of broad mastery. But this doesn’t change the argument’s core problem: a lack of broad mastery can mean either a lack of appropriate methods or a lack of significant effort. We’re still no closer to the conclusion.

D

Teaching secondary school students with methods appropriate to their learning styles does not always result in broad mastery of the curriculum by those students.

This breaks the argument. If appropriate methods aren’t sufficient for broad mastery, then the author can’t possibly conclude that a lack of broad mastery always implies a lack of appropriate methods.

E

Secondary school students who devote significant effort to their studies do not always achieve broad mastery of the curriculum.

So significant effort isn’t sufficient on its own for broad mastery. This doesn’t affect the argument, which says significant effort is sufficient if combined with appropriate methods. It’s still possible a lack of broad mastery sometimes implies a lack of significant effort.

35 comments