Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 1, Question 15 (Principle)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Principle questions ask which general rule fits the situation.
- Predict what a correct answer needs to do before you read the choices.
- Every question on this test is original, written to the same logical skeletons as real questions, and Steve checked every one himself before release.
The question
Software vendor: Most firms in our industry have now signed on to a trade-group rule requiring 90 days' notice before any published interface is retired. Following that rule would probably spare our customers a great deal of disruption. It would also, though, probably make our release cycle far slower than it is now. Our firm should therefore refuse to sign on.
15. Which one of the following principles, if valid, would most help to justify the software vendor's argument?
- (A)A firm should refuse to sign on to a rule that is unlikely to accomplish what the rule was written to accomplish.
- (B)A firm should refuse to sign on to a rule aimed at some goal when a better route to that goal is likely to be open to it.
- (C)In deciding whether to sign on to a rule, a firm should weigh the rule's effects on other firms' operations and not only its effects at home.
- (D)If a rule is likely to spare customers disruption and unlikely to slow a release cycle, a firm should sign on to that rule.
- (E)Keeping one's own release cycle fast matters more than sparing one's own customers disruption.
EWhy (E) is correct
The vendor concedes the notice rule would probably spare customers a great deal of disruption, but weighs that against a much slower release cycle and chooses the release cycle. That move only follows from a principle that ranks keeping one's own release cycle fast above sparing one's own customers disruption, which is exactly what (E) states, so it licenses the refusal to sign.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) needs the rule to be unlikely to spare customers disruption, but the vendor grants that it probably would, so the rule's goal is met.
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) depends on a better route to sparing that disruption being available, and the vendor never claims one exists.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) asks a firm to weigh a rule's effects on other firms' operations, something the vendor's argument never does and that alone wouldn't justify refusing.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) only applies when a rule is unlikely to slow the release cycle, but the vendor thinks it probably would, so the principle never reaches this case.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Principle. Principle questions ask which general rule fits the situation.
How do I get better at Principle questions?
Predict the answer before reading the choices. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
