LR Question 25 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Cities with healthy economies typically have plenty…
QUESTION TYPE: Parallel Reasoning
CONCLUSION: If you want a job, you should move to a high tech city.
REASONING:
- (B) Healthy economy (most) ➞ (C) job openings
- (A) High tech (most) ➞ (B) healthy economy
ANALYSIS: This is not a good argument. It incorrectly joins two “most” statements. You can’t connect “most” statements. I’ve drawn, A, B and C to clarify the structure. Premises:
B (most) ➞ C
A (most) ➞ B
Conclusion: If you want C, you should do A.
You need to parallel that argument. So find an answer with two “most” statements that share a term. Then the conclusion should parallel the one I wrote above.
Note: Probably, likely, usually etc. are all synonyms for “most”.
___________
- Here, the two “most” statement don’t share any term. We know antique dealers authenticate the age, but we don’t know if they generally have old antiques.
- Authenticated (most) ➞ most to sell
Most valuable (most) ➞ authenticated
The two bits of evidence work, but the conclusion doesn’t work. It should have said “if you’re looking for those dealers who have the most to sell, you should buy from those who have the most valuable antiques”. - CORRECT. (B) Authenticated (most) ➞ (C) valuable
(A) Antique dealer (most) ➞ (B) authenticated
Conclusion: If you want C, you should go to A
This argument parallels the structure exactly. - This has a “many” statement. We’re looking for two “mosts”, so that’s an instant eliminate.
- Same as D, this only has one “most” statement.
Recap: The question begins with “Cities with healthy economies typically have”. It is a Parallel Reasoning question. To practice more Parallel Reasoning questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.
More Resources for Parallel Reasoning Questions
- Conditional Reasoning Article: Learn about conditional statements.
- LR Diagrams Guide: Learn how to draw LR diagrams.
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Parallel Reasoning questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers parallel reasoning questions.
Do you have any recommendations on how to get faster on these? I have done a ton of them- I’m just slow.
Check for the structure
Skim the answers looking for similar structure. Only draw the 1-2 answers that seem to match
Redo these questions to get it down to a routine
Do many of these questions
I have more examples of how to do this in the parallel section of the LR mastery seminar. Parallel questions are quite improveable, it’s mostly down to focussed practice.
Note: This is an old comment but I wanted to clarify the point.
Dear Graeme:
I absolutely do not comprehend why you couldn’t use the A,B,C in ‘order’ instead of putting B first and A second. That is confusing that way. I don’t get it. Why are the letters backwards? Could you enlighten me?
Why couldn’t you put A first and then B, then, B and C like this?
A (most) ➞ B
B (most) ➞ C
The sentence is:
“Cities with healthy economies typically have plenty of job openings.”
(A (most) – B)
“Cities with high-technology businesses”… (C)… “also tend to have healthy economies, so those in search of jobs…. (B) ….”should move to a city with high-technology businesses” (C).
The letters are in this order because the stimulus forms a reasoning chain that starts from the middle of the chain. The stimulus starts with:
healthy economies (most) –> plenty of job openings
But our final chain is:
high tech businesses (most) –> healthy economies (most) –> plenty of job openings
So, the explanation summarizes the premises in the stimulus as:
(B) Healthy economy (most) ➞ (C) job openings
(A) High tech (most) ➞ (B) healthy economy
The reason for this is that when you look at the answer choices, you can find the parallel chain of reasoning even if the statements of that chain are presented in a different order than that of the stimulus.
I got this question right but it took me way to long to get there. I know I need to sharpen my conditional statement translating and my question is directly tied to that…
The question’s conclusion states (in words) “…those in search of jobs should move to a city with high-technology businesses”. That seems to be the reverse of what you’ve posted. Not if you want A, do C… but if you want C, do A.
Can you point out what I’m missing? Thanks
That’s actually a typo! Thanks for catching it. The page has been updated.
Also, yes, it’s a great idea to focus on sharpening your conditional reasoning throughout your prep. Knowing how to diagram conditional statements accurately and efficiently is an essential skill. And with enough practice you’ll often be able to save time on test day by mentally mapping out the diagrams as you read through the stimulus and answer choices, and won’t need to draw the diagrams out by hand.