PrepTest 118

[lcid:3568] Prep Test 118 LSAT — Logical Reasoning — S1 Logical reasoning

Question prompt

When uncontrollable factors such Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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

Question Type

Must Be True Questions / Sufficient & Necessary Questions

Answer choices

  1. A
    If several of the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer reverses the relationship. We know that when farmers are suffering, other businesses can suffer, but that doesn't guarantee that the other businesses suffer only when farmers are.
  2. B
    If rainfall is below Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. The stimulus is about when there's a lack of rain driving wheat crop failure—that's not the same as rainfall being below average, which will happen about 50% of the time. (Note that if the stimulus were about below-average rainfall, and this answer were about a lack of rain, then we couldn't rule this answer out for this reason as the stimulus would guarantee something is true when rainfall is below average.)
  3. C
    Farmers are not responsible Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. The stimulus does note that a lack of rain is an "uncontrollable factor," and people can't be held responsible for things that they can't control. However, this doesn't state that the farmers aren't responsible for the lack of rain—instead, it says that they're not responsible for the consequences of the wheat crop failing. It's possible they do have control over the consequences from a lack of rain because they could install an irrigation system or in some other way mitigate the damage. Since it's possible they can control the consequences of a drought, they may be responsible for them, and thus this answer is unsupported.
  4. D
    A country's dependence on Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer is too extreme in talking about a country's "dependence" on agriculture and a "major economic cris[i]s."
  5. E
    The consequences of a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    Correct. Argument or Facts:
    Facts

    Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Stimulus Summary:
    When there's a lack of rain and wheat crops fail, a lot of other businesses have problems.

    Answer Anticipation:
    This stimulus consists of a single statement, so the correct answer isn't going to be an inference, per se, but rather some type of restatement of the details in the stimulus. Let's head to the answers and take extra care in making sure that there are no minor term shifts that invalidate them.

    Answer Explanation:
    This answer is a generalization from the stimulus. A lack of rain is, by definition, a drought, and the stimulus establishes that the effects of it extend to areas other than farming (fertilizer and seed sellers; trucking/mechanics; fuel suppliers).

    Key Takeaway:
    When the stimulus of a Must be True question features a single statement, the correct answer will likely be a valid generalization from that statement, treating the stimulus as an example. Additionally, the wrong answers will likely have subtle term shifts you'll need to navigate to make your eliminations.

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