PrepTest 120

Incorrect. The stimulus doesn't discuss "indifference" by economists or the destruction of natural resources. Failing to take into account the value of natural resources doesn't mean that the economists are indifferent to them (they may care quite a bit about them for non-accounting reasons). And destruction of those resources is completely out of scope.

Incorrect. Economists assign no value to natural resources in the accounting framework they use, but that doesn't mean they believe they have no value at all. They may have value in a way that they believe shouldn't factor into accounting.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Accounting framework dependable → Take into account all of nation's assets
Current accounting framework: Doesn't take into account certain assets owned by the nation

Answer Anticipation:
This answer provides a conditional and then discusses a specific situation to which it might apply.

That conditional establishes taking all of a nation's assets into account as a necessary condition for an accounting framework to be dependable. However, the current framework used by a nation doesn't meet that necessary condition—it fails to account for natural resources.

Since the current accounting framework fails to meet a necessary condition for being dependable, we can conclude that it isn't dependable, and we should look for an answer saying that.

Answer Explanation:
To be dependable, a framework needs to take into account all of a nation's assets. The current framework doesn't. Therefore, the conditional from the stimulus guarantees that the framework isn't dependable/reliable. This answer is therefore correct.

Key Takeaway:
There are two common types of inferences the LSAT will have you draw from conditional statements in Must Be True questions. The first involves chaining the statements together. The second involves applying a conditional to a specific situation. This question is a great example of the latter.

Incorrect. This answer is too broad in talking about all nations since the stimulus only discusses one specific country.

Incorrect. The stimulus does establish something that's true of all accounting frameworks—to be dependable, it needs to take into account all of a nation's assets. However, only one specific framework is established as failing to do so, so this answer is too broad in stating that they all fail to take this into account.