LSAT 104 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q4

LR Question 4 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Mayor: Citing the severity of the city’s winters, the city road…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: We can’t afford the commissioner’s plan.

REASONING: Rubberized asphalt will save us money on maintenance.

But rubberized asphalt is more expensive to install, and we have no room to increase the road building and maintenance budget.

ANALYSIS: The mayor assumes we can’t save money elsewhere in the budget to afford rubberized asphalt. Maybe we can use the money we’ll save on snow removal.

___________

1. There might be other advantages, but those advantages might not make it more affordable to install rubberized asphalt.
2. Most winters vary in severity. I’m not sure how variation would make it affordable to install rubberized asphalt.
3. The commission proposed rubberized asphalt. No one is proposing any other kind of rubberized material.
4. CORRECT. If this is false, then we could afford to install rubberized asphalt, using the savings from the maintenance budget.
5. If the techniques are the least expensive possible, then the argument is stronger. There’s no room for savings by using cheaper techniques.

Recap: The question begins with “Mayor: Citing the severity of the city’s winters, the city road”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn more about LSAT Necessary questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.