LSAT 128 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Shaw: Regulatory limits on pollution emissions from power …

QUESTION TYPE: Miscellaneous

ANALYSIS: Shaw argues that regulatory limits on emissions should be based on long-term average levels rather than peak levels.

Levin contends that this reasoning is flawed because short periods of high emissions can still be harmful. He compares this to enforcing speed limits based on average speed rather than peak speed, which would fail to account for dangerous speeding. In his analogy:

• A vehicle’s average speed represents a power plant’s long-term average emissions
• A vehicle’s peak speed represents a power plant’s peak emission levels

Time spent at a stoplight (where speed is 0, because you’re stopped) would correspond to a power plant operating at a zero emission level. This would reduce its long-term average emissions but fails to address dangerous peak emissions.

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1. A period of zero speed/emissions doesn’t mean a lack of monitoring – that’s a separate issue.
2. Neither Shaw nor Levin discuss efficiency. Besides, a vehicle at a stoplight is not operating efficiently.
3. Remember, rolling through a stop sign is illegal most places – you’re supposed to come to a full stop. So a stop sign doesn’t only represent low speed, it represents no speed. So it corresponds to zero emissions.
4. CORRECT. A stopped vehicle represents zero speed, making it analogous to a power plant that is emitting no pollutants at all.
5. This is the exact opposite of what we want. Stoplight means zero speed, not maximum speed.