Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 2, Question 21 (Evaluate)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Evaluate questions ask which piece of information would help you most in judging the argument.
- Answer each choice both ways. If a yes helps the argument and a no hurts it, that choice is the answer.
- 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
Aviation authority official: The Drone Access Scorecard grades regions on how hard it is for a commercial operator to win approval for a flight. To produce a grade, the scorecard's assessors trace every step that one standard test flight would have to complete under a region's approval and inspection rules. Since the last scorecard appeared, we have cut the filings demanded of light and even mid-weight aircraft here. Our grade on the next scorecard should therefore rise.
21. Knowing the answer to which one of the following questions would be most helpful in judging the official's argument?
- (A)Would commercial flights in the region become more frequent if its inspection rules were eased as well?
- (B)Is the aircraft flown on the assessors' standard test flight heavier than what the official counts as mid-weight?
- (C)Have operators in the region applied for flight approvals more often since the filings were cut?
- (D)For a commercial operator in the region, is winning approval harder than passing the inspections that follow?
- (E)Was the official employed by the authority when the last scorecard appeared?
BWhy (B) is correct
(B) is the question that actually tests the argument's fit. The scorecard's assessors trace one standard test flight through the region's rules, and the official cut filings for light and mid-weight aircraft. If the assessors' standard test flight is heavier than what counts as mid-weight, the cut never touches the flight the scorecard actually grades, and the argument collapses.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) whether easing inspection rules too would make flights more frequent is a question about economic outcomes, not about whether the filing cut moves the grade.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) whether operators have applied for approval more often since the cut speaks to actual behavior, not to how the scorecard scores a hypothetical test flight.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) whether approval is harder than the inspections that follow compares 2 steps in the process, which leaves open whether the filing cut reaches the flight the assessors use.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) whether the official was employed there when the last scorecard appeared has no bearing on whether the grade will rise.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Evaluate. Evaluate questions ask which piece of information would help you most in judging the argument.
How do I get better at Evaluate questions?
Answer each choice both ways. If a yes helps the argument and a no hurts it, that choice is the answer. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
