LSAT 116 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q3

LR Question 3 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Cognitive psychologist: In a recent survey, citizens of…

QUESTION TYPE: Resolve the Paradox

ANALYSIS: The only differences between the two scenarios are how rich country F is, and how rich it is compared to G. The answer must depend on one of these factors.

On a question such as this, I like to think of a possible answer before looking at the answer choices. “People like their country to be the best” is what I came up with. That matches E.

___________

1. They could thus believe that they would eventually overtake country G in scenario II. Yet they preferred scenario I.
2. This contradicts the results, where citizens preferred a poorer country.
3. This could be true, but it doesn’t explain why they prefer scenario A (GNP is the only difference).
4. Again, this could be true, but it doesn’t provide an explanation. If they don’t think much of GNP, we would expect indifference.
5. CORRECT. If this is true, then it would explain why citizens preferred their country to be poorer, as long as they were richer than country G.

Recap: The question begins with “Cognitive psychologist: In a recent survey, citizens of”. It is a Paradox question. Learn how to master LSAT Paradox questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.