PrepTest 125

[lcid:3599] Prep Test 125 LSAT — Logical Reasoning — S4 Logical reasoning

Question prompt

The university's purchasing department 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

Flawed Parallel Reasoning Questions

Answer choices

  1. A
    The employees at this Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. First, the premise here is about the individual staff members, not the restaurant as a whole. Second, the argument doesn't jump from a characteristic of this part to the whole—it jumps from the part to a conclusion about what the customer experience will be.
  2. B
    The outside audit of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. First, this argument has a premise about staff members and a conclusion about a department. Second, it shifts from the staff being incompetent to the department not meeting needs. Maybe the company's needs aren't a competent department!
  3. C
    This supercomputer is the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Correct. Argument or Facts:
    Argument

    Valid or Flawed:
    Flawed

    Question Type:
    Flawed Parallel Reasoning

    Stimulus Summary:
    The purchasing department is efficient, so each staff member is efficient.

    Answer Anticipation:
    This argument jumps from a whole (the department) to the parts (the staff members), saying that a characteristic of the former must also be true of the latter. This is as straightforward an example of a Part vs. Whole flaw (specifically, a Whole to Part flaw) as we're going to see on the LSAT! Let's look for an argument with the same flaw in the answers while also noting that a likely trap answer will feature a part to whole flaw.

    Answer Explanation:
    This answer jumps from what is true of a whole—the supercomputer—to what is true of each individual part—the components. This is the same jump from Whole to Part as the stimulus, so this is the correct answer. (Note that it doesn't matter the stimulus discusses only a single characteristic and this discusses two. The number of characteristics of the whole that are assigned to the part isn't relevant to the Part vs. Whole flaw, so that doesn't have to match in a Flawed Parallel Reasoning question.)

    Key Takeaway:
    The "direction" of a Part vs. Whole flaw matters. Be sure to note whether the argument goes from the part to the whole or vice versa, as it can matter in the answer choices.
  4. D
    Literature critics have lavished Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer jumps from talking about the part to the whole, not the other way around.
  5. E
    Passing a driving test Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer is essentially valid, so it can't be right in a Flawed Parallel Reasoning question.

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