LSAT 106 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q15

LR Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The town of Springhill frequently must declare a water…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: Springhill discourages conservation.

REASONING: Households in Springhill pay a flat fee for water until they hit a threshold. They only pay extra fees for water usage above the threshold.

ANALYSIS: We can’t evaluate the argument unless we know what the threshold is. If it’s really, really low, then all households will go over it. Households will therefore save money if they use less water, and they’ll be encouraged to conserve.

But if the threshold is high, then it will be hard to go over it. Households won’t be charged for the water they use. They’ll be encouraged to waste money.

Most of the wrong answers only indirectly refer to the threshold. They dance around it without telling us how high the damned thing is.

___________

1. This sounds good…but the argument’s conclusion is about whether Springhill could avoid water emergencies by encouraging conservation in normal times. The argument doesn’t say what Springhill should do in emergencies.
2. This doesn’t tell us how high the threshold is.
3. CORRECT. If this is true, then most households will only pay the flat fee, and this will encourage them to use as much water as they like.
4. So? For all we know, those other towns have an unlimited threshold. We only need to know how high Springfield’s threshold is.
5. This tells us how to change the threshold, but it doesn’t tell us what the threshold is.