Reading comp PrepTest 137 · Section 1 · Question 8

Incorrect. This answer doesn't establish that the Mayor didn't do so in awarding a contract to her relative.

Incorrect. The stimulus doesn't discuss the cost and reliability of the Mayor's relative compared to other options, so this answer is out of scope.

Incorrect. The Guideline already established that both lead equally to a conclusion of impropriety, so this answer doesn't add anything relevant to the argument.

Incorrect. Risk is out of scope of the Guideline.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Principle (Strengthen)

Stimulus Summary:
G: Benefit self OR Gives appearance of benefitting self → Improper

A: Greenville's mayor gave a contract to one of her relatives that would otherwise have been financial straits, so she acted improperly.

Answer Anticipation:
First, LSAT, you're not fooling anyone with your talk of "guidelines"—that's just another way of calling this a Principle. As such, we should approach this as we do any Principle/Application question.

And in those questions, the Application generally fails to establish that the specific case it mentions meets the sufficient condition of the Principle. In this case, the Application does reach the relevant conclusion, but it does fail to establish that sufficient condition.

What is established is that the Mayor's actions benefited a relative. However, the sufficient condition relates to taking an action that benefits (or gives the appearance of benefitting) herself. So in order to justify this application, the correct answer is going to have to connect benefitting a relative with benefitting yourself.

Answer Explanation:
This answer connects the details of the specific situation to the sufficient condition of the Guideline, thus justifying its application, so this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Don't let the LSAT fool you with a minor word change—this isn't a new Guideline question type. A guideline is just one specific type of principle, and so we can use our Principle strategies to tackle this question.