Logical reasoning PrepTest 147 · Section 1 · Question 1

Question prompt

After a major toll Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Paradox Questions

Answer choices

  1. A
    The highway began charging Remaining source text redacted.
  2. B
    Even after the switch Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. Even if there were some delays, the stimulus still establishes that delays were down, along with travel time and tailpipe pollution. Therefore, the presence of some delays would, at best, explain why pollution wasn't as low as it could be, not why it stayed about the same overall.
  3. C
    The prospect of faster, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Correct. Argument or Facts:
    Facts

    Question Type:
    Paradox

    Stimulus Summary:
    Electronic tolls decreased delays, decreased travel time per trip, and decreased pollution per trip, but overall pollution stayed the same.

    Answer Anticipation:
    The paradox here is that, while pollution per trip went down, overall pollution didn't. For there to be no reduction in overall pollution despite a per trip decrease, it must be the case that the total number of trips increased. Let's find an answer stating that!

    Answer Explanation:
    If more drivers are using the highway, then there are more cars on the road. While the per-trip pollution may go down, there are now more trips, and thus there could be more pollution overall.

    Key Takeaway:
    Whenever you see premises on the LSAT broken down in some way—per trip, per capita, per year—start to think about the total number of trips, capitas (yes, we know that's not a thing), or years. The net amount of something might be up or flat despite the per X amount being down.
  4. D
    Travel time on the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. Even if travel time for certain trips didn't decrease, it did for others, and so the paradox still stands—why didn't overall pollution go down?
  5. E
    Some drivers did not Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. Even if some people didn't make the switch, the stimulus notes that commute times and per-trip pollution went down, so the change had a measurable effect.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 2%
  2. B 4%
  3. C Credited 89%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 3%

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