Exam LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning topic 1 question 182 discussion

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

Question #: 182
Topic #: 1

[All LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning Questions]

Sales manager: The highest priority should be given to the needs of the sales department, because without successful sales the company as a whole would fail.
Shipping manager: There are several departments other than sales that also must function successfully for the company to succeed. It is impossible to give the highest priority to all of them.
The shipping manager criticizes the sales manager's argument by pointing out

A. that the sales department taken by itself is not critical to the company's success as a whole
B. the ambiguity of the term "highest priority"
C. that departments other than sales are more vital to the company's success
D. an absurd consequence of its apparent assumption that a department's necessity earns it the highest priority
E. that the sales manager makes a generalization from an atypical case

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: D 🗳️
The stem is packed with clues. It tells us 1) what the shipping manager does (criticize the sales manager) and what were to do (recognize the basis for the criticism). Let’s start with the person being criticized: The evidence Keyword "because" bisects the sales manager’s argument, the conclusion preceding it and the evidence naturally following it. Sales should get the highest priority, because without a successful sales department, the company is sunk. And its not too hard to anticipate a criticism of this line of reasoning: There are other necessary departments whose success are crucial to the company, the shipping manager points out.
They cant all get highest priority. D. gets at this issue: The sales manager bases her argument on the necessity of the sales department, without considering the possible necessity of other departments.
If necessity alone is the criterion, then the "absurd consequence" is having to award the highest priority to a bunch of different departments, which is by definition impossible.

by [deleted] at March 9, 2025, 1:32 p.m.

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