LSAT 159 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Many hikers now carry cell phones so they can call for …

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS:

1. Many hikers have cell phones.
2. Many hikers use those phones to report poachers they see. This lets wildlife officials get there before the poachers leave.
3. Poachers avoid areas they know are frequented by hikers.

ANALYSIS: We’re told many hikers do see poachers and call them in. But poachers avoid areas they know to be frequented by hikers. So for hikers to be seeing poachers at all, there must be some areas where hikers are present, but poachers don’t know hikers go there. Otherwise the poachers would avoid that area.

So, the only supported inference we can draw here is that some hikers are in areas that poachers don’t know are frequented by hikers.

___________

1. Many hikers have cell phones, so we can assume many can afford them. We don’t know that most can afford them.
    
   You can also have something without being able to afford it: maybe you borrowed a phone from a friend, maybe your phone was a gift, maybe you took out an unaffordable loan to get your phone, etc.
2. We’re told cell phones help catch poachers sometimes, but nothing about trends in overall poaching levels. For this to be correct we’d need some actual support about trends in poaching levels.
3. To receive calls, wildlife offices must have some sort of phone. However, we have no information about whether wildlife agents tend to carry cell phones or not.
4. CORRECT. Hikers are seeing poachers and reporting them. But poachers avoid areas they know hikers frequent. So for these encounters to happen, there must be some areas where hikers go that poachers don’t realize hikers will be.
5. Way too strong. We know cell phones help in some cases, but we don’t know how effective they actually are. We also don’t know how effective other methods are.
    
   To say that cell phones are among the most effective methods we need info about other methods.