PrepTest 156

[lcid:3723] Prep Test 156 LSAT — Logical Reasoning — S4 Logical reasoning

Question prompt

James: The world is Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

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

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Strategy Overview

Argument or facts for both speakers? If argument for one or both speakers, identify the conclusion and premises Anticipate the issue that speakers disagree over. Helps to focus on topics both speakers discuss

Answer Anticipation

Point at Issue questions ask us to find an answer choice one speaker agrees with and the other disagrees with. Many test-takers prefer to answer these questions by reading both speakers' statements carefully and then testing whether each speaker agrees or disagrees with each answer chioce. If you prefer to anticipate what the correct answer choice will say, we can start by identifying a topic both speakers discuss. In this argument, James and Ariel circle many of the same topics. They both discuss the division between computer-literate and computer-illiterate people, the importance of computer literacy, the gap between the rich and poor, and whether the gap between the rich and poor will grow. We can rule out a few topics James and Ariel agree on. They both think computer literacy is important and that there's a division between computer-literate and computer-illiterate people (James: "The world is increasingly divided between the computer literate and the computer illiterate"; Ariel: "This will lessen the division between the computer literate and the computer illiterate"). Moreover, they both concede that there's a growing gap between the rich and poor (James: "the economic gap between rich and poor is partly responsible for causing this division ... the economic gap will widen"; Ariel: "whatever might cause the economic gap between rich and poor to widen in the future"). What they disagree over then is whether the division between computer-literate and computer-illiterate people will grow in the future. James says it will ("The world is increasingly divided between the computer literate and the computer illiterate"). But Ariel thinks it will get smaller ("This will lessen the division between the computer literate and the computer illiterate"). James bases this conclusion on the "increasing importance of computer literacy," a premise that Ariel agrees with. Ariel's reasoning involves the training that businesses provide, which is a topic that James never brings up. So, if the correct answer brings up this disagreement, it couldn't include either speaker's reasoning. Alternatively, James and Ariel also disagree over what will cause the gap between the rich and poor to grow. James thinks it will grow "because of the increasing importance of computer literacy." However, Ariel explicitly rules out that potential cause ("whatever might cause the economic gap between rich and poor to widen in the future, it won’t be the importance of computer literacy"). So, the correct answer could bring up this instead. Let's look for one of these anticipations in the answer choice.

Answer choices

  1. A
    the economic gap between Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    This doesn't reflect either anticipation we made, so we can swiftly eliminate (A). Besides, James and Ariel agree on this issue. James says, "[T]he economic gap [between the rich and poor] will widen." And Ariel says, "[W]hatever might cause the economic gap between rich and poor to widen in the future, it won’t be the importance of computer literacy." So, both concede that the gap between the rich and poor will grow.

  2. B
    the economic gap between Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    This doesn't reflect either anticipation we made, so let's cross off (B). Besides, while we know that James would agree with this answer choice, we don't know whether Ariel would disagree with it. Ariel never discusses what caused the gap between the rich and poor, so can't definitely conclude that Ariel doesn't believe that the gap was partly caused by the increasing importance of computer literacy.

  3. C
    businesses' need for computer-literate Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    This doesn't reflect either anticipation we made, so we can cross off (C) without hesitating. Besides, although we know that Ariel agrees with this statement ("businesses’ increasing need for computer-literate employees"), James never brings up businesses' need for computer-literate employees. Given James's belief in "the increasing importance of computer literacy," James would probably agree with Ariel that businesses will need more computer-literate employees.

  4. D
    the economic gap between Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    This matches our second anticipation! James would definitely agree with this statement ("the economic gap will widen because of the increasing importance of computer literacy"). And Ariel explicitly rules computer literacy as a potential cause of the widening gap between the rich and poor ("whatever might cause the economic gap between rich and poor to widen in the future, it won’t be the importance of computer literacy").

    Since James would agree with (D) and Ariel would disagree with it, we can select (D) and advance to the following question.

  5. E
    companies will have to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    This doesn't reflect either anticipation we made, so we can toss (E) aside. Besides, while we know that Ariel agrees with this statement, James never brings up whether businesses will train their employees. So, we can't say that James disagrees with this claim. Given James's belief in "the increasing importance of computer literacy," James might agree that companies will have to train their employees, though.

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