LSAT 1 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q20

LR Question 20 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Most people in the United States view neither big nor small business as …

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS:

1. Most Americans don’t see big or small businesses as especially efficient or dynamic.
2. Most Americans think both of them provide fairly priced goods and services.
3. Yet people viewed small businesses as a constant force for good, and big businesses as socially responsible only in prosperous times.

ANALYSIS: There’s a difference in how people view the social value of small vs. big businesses. Both are seen as equally fair in pricing and not particularly efficient, but small ones are seen as good consistently, while big ones only earn that status in good economic times.

So what explains this difference? Maybe we’re looking at the wrong factors. Maybe pricing or efficiency has nothing to do with how people evaluate a business’ social responsibility.

___________

1. If this were true, the argument wouldn’t exist. People do think about the value of business to society, otherwise they wouldn’t have perceptions on it.
2. We know that both are seen as inefficient, yet there’s a difference in perception. So efficiency alone can’t drive perception.
3. Small business is already viewed favorably, despite not being seen as dynamic. So this conditional doesn’t follow from the stimulus.
4. We’re told people do think big business provides fair pricing. We’re not told what happens if that changed, so this hypothetical can’t be supported.
5. CORRECT. Both business types are seen as fairly priced, but only big business loses social approval when times are bad. So clearly people’s perceptions are driven by more than just pricing.