Logical reasoning PrepTest 115 · Section 4 · Question 10

Incorrect. There's no indication of how many bottles are being sold, just how much profit is made per bottle, so this answer is unsupported.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Wholesale price of VV has been the same since 1991
Profit = Wholesale price - production costs
Production costs include bottles and corks
All bottle production costs have been the same since 1991
Cork prices have doubled

Answer Anticipation:
This argument presents a definition of profit that it then presents us with enough relative information to draw an inference about.

We know that most of the numbers in that equation have remained constant. However, one has increased. Since that number is a cost (corks), it's subtracted from the wholesale price, which has remained constant. If the base number hasn't gone up but something subtracted from it has, then the profit must also have gone down. Let's find an answer reflecting that.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects the inference we can derive from the equation presented. If the wholesale price is the same, but one cost has gone up and no others have gone down, then the profits per bottle are lower, as this answer states.

Key Takeaway:
The LSAT isn't going to give you an equation without asking you to apply it. Treat equations as principles and see what information from the stimulus lines up with it!

Incorrect. We know that the price of the corks to Veritas have increased, but that doesn't need to be because the cork maker's costs have gone up. Maybe demand has increased and so the cork maker can charge more even though the production costs haven't changed.

Incorrect. The stimulus only provides information that allows us to figure out if the profit-per-bottle has increased, not the overall amount of profit. That depends on volume sold, and we have no basis to know if that's changed.

Incorrect. While the cost of the corks has increased and the bottles haven't, we don't know the relative starting point of these two items, so we can draw this comparison.