LSAT 101 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q21

LR Question 21 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The amount of electricity consumed in Millville on…

QUESTION TYPE: Parallel Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Millville used more energy this August than last August.

REASONING: Electricity usage in August is directly proportional to humidity. (that means if humidity is higher, usage is higher, and vice versa. No other factors override humidity.)

ANALYSIS: The structure is: one factor is the most important. Usage varies directly with this factor. Is there is more, there’s more usage. If there’s less, then there’s less usage.

___________

1. CORRECT. This mirrors the stimulus exactly. More students mean more art supplies are used, period.
2. This answer is nonsense. The number of sculpture courses are the same each term…but that doesn’t mean there are more painting courses. There’s no relation between the two courses.
3. This is a good argument. But it’s telling us what should be done. The stimulus told us what did happen. It’s the difference between advice, and stating the facts.
4. This is a bad argument. It ignores the possibility that students are enrolling in fewer classes.
5. This is a bad argument. There’s no evidence for the conclusion. The premise talks about the number of instructors, then the conclusion switches to the number of classes, without given any evidence. We have no idea what determines the number of classes.

Recap: The question begins with “The amount of electricity consumed in Millville on”. It is a Parallel Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Parallel questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.