LR Question 20 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Members of the VideoKing Frequent Viewers club…
QUESTION TYPE: Must Be True
FACTS:
- Member + more than ten ➞ coupon only at your local store.
- Member + fewer than ten ➞ coupon only at the Main Street store.
- Pat has rented less than ten movies and can get a coupon at a local store (Walnut Street, which is not Main Street)
ANALYSIS: Pat rented fewer than ten movies. If Pat were a member, she could only get coupons at the main street store.
Since Pat can get coupons elsewhere, she must not be a member. This is the contrapositive of fact #2 above: Can get coupons elsewhere ➞ Member or ten or more movies.
Since Pat is not a member, we can say “some people” (i.e. Pat, at least) can get a coupon even if they aren’t members. One or more = some. Why can Pat get coupons even if she isn’t a member? Maybe it’s a special promotion to get people to sign up.
___________
- The stimulus never says anything about non-members. Maybe they can get coupons at all stores (as a special promotion, for example).
- We know from the stimulus that Pat is not a member. So we don’t know anything about individual members. Maybe they all rent more than ten movies. The second fact tells us what happens if someone rents fewer than ten movies. But that doesn’t mean anyone actually does.
- We only have Pat’s example, and she isn’t a member. We don’t know about any members.
- CORRECT. If Pat were a member, she would have to get her coupon at Main street, as she’s rented fewer than ten movies. Since she gets her coupon at Walnut street, she must not be a member. And since she can get a coupon, that means at least “some” people can. “Some” can be as few as one.
- Who knows? Pat isn’t a member, so maybe she can get a coupon anywhere. Lots of stores will let you get a discount in exchange for signing up to be a member of their program.
More Resources for Must Be True Questions
- Conditional Reasoning Article: Learn about conditional statements on the LSAT.
- LR Diagrams Guide: Learn how to draw LR diagrams.
- Intro to Conditional Reasoning: This intro course lesson covers conditional reasoning basics.
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Must Be True questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers must be true questions.
It seems like its worth pointing out how the kind of tricks the LSAT uses to see how focused on logic you are. I get the contrapositive explanation, but it violates common sense: non-members have greater access to the discount than members do.
It’s a fair point. Though I would counter that oftentimes non-members get perks members don’t have. Once you’re a member the company already has your business. Whereas signup bonuses for new members are frequent offers for many services such as credit cards, cellphone plans, online poker, etc.
Outside knowledge on the LSAT can be dangerous. If everyone agrees, it is reasonable to make an assumption. But you have to think about whether something is *truly* a universal belief vs. just your own belief.
Note: This is an old comment but I wanted to clarify the point.
If the stimulus does not clarify that Pat is a member, do we assume that they are not?
No, you can’t just assume they are not. Rather, the deduction that they are not follows from the logic above. Pat’s circumstances violate the rules for members, so we can conclude she is not a member.
Note: This is an old comment but I wanted to clarify the point.