LSAT 102 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Consumers will be hurt by the new lower ceilings on…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: Restrictions on halibut fishing will increase halibut prices.

REASONING: The law and supply of demand says that a lower supply will increase prices.

ANALYSIS: If the same amount of people want to buy a smaller amount of fish, then prices will rise.

But what if fewer people want to buy halibut (because, say, they heard it was endangered)? Then prices might not rise. The correct answer strengthens the argument by eliminating this possibility.

Several of the wrong answers talk about other fish. Who cares? It’s as if you were talking about Ferraris, and some guy keeps asking about jeeps. We’re only talking about halibut, not other fish.

___________

1. CORRECT. If demand is the same and supply is lower, then prices will go up. (people might have restricted their demand because they heard the halibut was endangered, for example).
2. Actually, the argument is stronger if there’s no connection between supply and demand. If supply goes down, demand will stay the same and prices will rise.
3. It doesn’t matter if people buy other fish. We only care if the same number of people will try to buy halibut – that will increase halibut prices.
4. We don’t care about other fish – we only care about halibut, and halibut prices.
5. So? We care about what happens to halibut prices. Other fish don’t matter.

Recap: The question begins with “Consumers will be hurt by the new lower ceilings on”. It is a Strengthen question. Learn how to master LSAT Strengthen questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.