LSAT 114 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q14

LR Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Thirty years ago, the percentage of the British people…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: British people have more money to spend on vacations now.

REASONING: Foreign vacation costs about as much as it used to (i.e. it is expensive.) Yet a much higher percentage of Britons now travel abroad.

ANALYSIS: This argument is ignoring the possibility that Britons are simply spending money they don’t have (i.e. going into debt.)

It’s also ignoring the possibility that Britons have decided they like foreign travel more now than they did 30 years ago. Perhaps they could have taken foreign vacations back then but they just didn’t want to.

The conclusion is unusual in that it says “vacations” instead of “foreign vacations.” Normally such a switch is important, and you may have noticed it here. But, it doesn’t make any difference this time. Always watch out for such subtle changes but don’t assume they’re always important or intentional.

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1. This wouldn’t affect anything. The argument’s claim is about the total amount of money that Britons have to spend on foreign travel. If travel were less expensive then they could take more trips but have the same amount of money to spend.
2. The argument is talking about what Britons do. Foreigners are irrelevant. 
3. It doesn’t matter what Britons spent the money on. The main point is that they weren’t spending it on foreign travel.
4. CORRECT. It’s possible that preferences have changed. It could be that people simply prefer to travel abroad now when they didn’t have such a preference 30 years ago. 
5. The opposite of this is that people could be wealthier even without having more money to spend on travel. This doesn’t destroy the argument because it leaves open the possibility that people aren’t wealthier but have found more money to spend on travel.