Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 3, Question 15 (Resolve the Paradox)
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- These questions ask which fact best explains an apparent conflict.
- Predict what a correct answer needs to do before you read the choices.
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The question
The count of independent repair garages in Merrow County dropped by more than a third over 12 years. Analysts initially blamed the spread of onboard fault-reading systems, which let a technician trace a fault without putting a car on a lift. A later review traced the decline instead to a county surcharge on hazardous-waste pickup, charged to every business that handles motor oil and solvents. The county dropped that surcharge 5 years ago, and no business has paid it since, but the count of independent garages remains flat.
15. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain why independent garages have not returned to their earlier numbers?
- (A)The surcharge also fell on mobile repair vans, which, now that onboard fault-reading is widespread, take work away from independent garages.
- (B)The share of cars carrying onboard fault-reading systems has grown more slowly since the surcharge ended than it did before.
- (C)Independent garages and mobile repair vans hire their technicians out of different training programs.
- (D)The waste haulers garages now use in place of the county program appear to have made little difference to how many garages operate.
- (E)The surcharge was a heavier burden on garages in the county's outlying towns than on garages near its center.
AWhy (A) is correct
Independent garages in Merrow County fell by more than a third, a later review pinned the real cause on a hazardous-waste surcharge rather than onboard fault-reading systems, and the county dropped that surcharge 5 years ago. Yet garage numbers still haven't come back. The question asks for a fact showing why removing the surcharge wasn't enough to bring the old numbers back. (A) supplies it: the surcharge used to fall on mobile repair vans too, and now that onboard fault-reading is widespread, those vans take work that would otherwise go to independent garages, holding the count down even after the surcharge is gone.
Why the other answers are wrong
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) says onboard systems have spread more slowly since the surcharge ended, which doesn't matter since the review already traced the decline to the surcharge, not to that technology.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) notes that garages and vans train technicians differently, which doesn't touch why garage counts have stayed flat.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) says the new waste haulers have made little difference to garage numbers, which leaves the flat count unexplained rather than accounting for it.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) notes the surcharge hit outlying towns harder, which says nothing about why the county's overall count hasn't recovered.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Resolve the Paradox. These questions ask which fact best explains an apparent conflict.
How do I get better at Resolve the Paradox questions?
Predict the answer before reading the choices. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
