Exam LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning topic 1 question 153 discussion

Actual exam question from Test Prep's LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning

Question #: 153
Topic #: 1

[All LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning Questions]

President of the Regional Chamber of Commerce: We are all aware of the painful fact that almost no new businesses have moved into our region or started up here over the last ten years. But the Planning Board is obviously guilty of a gross exaggeration in its recent estimate that businesses are leaving the region at the rate of about four a week. After all, there were never more than about one thousand businesses in the region, so if they were really leaving at such a rate, they would all have been gone long ago. The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the ground that it

A. focuses on what is going out of a system while ignoring the issue of what is coming into the system
B. confuses a claim about a rate of change within a system with a claim about the absolute size of the system
C. argues against a position simply by showing that the position serves the interest of the Planning Board
D. treats a claim about what is currently the case as if it were a claim about what has been the case for an extended period
E. attacks what was offered as an estimate on the ground that it is not precise

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: D 🗳️
If this guy is the President of the Chamber of Commerce, then the region can expect a lot more businesses to leave. The question stem tells you that his argument is flawed. The President concludes that the Planning Board is guilty of exaggerating the rate of businesses leaving the region. His evidence is that there have never been more than a thousand businesses in the region, and if they were really leaving at the rate of four per week over the past 10 years, then there wouldnt be any businesses left in the region. Did you spot the scope shift? The Planning Board, in its estimate of businesses leaving, said nothing about how long this had been occurring. So the President seems to assume that the Board is claiming that this rate has been accurate for a long time. Once you identified this flaw, it should have been easy to skim the choices for the correct answer. Businesses are currently leaving at four per week. The Planning Board did not say theyve been leaving at four per week for 10 years. D. points out the Presidents misrepresentation.

by [deleted] at March 9, 2025, 1:29 p.m.

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