LSAT 148 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q22

LR Question 22 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Most of the new cars that Regis Motors sold last year…

QUESTION TYPE: Must be True

FACTS:

1. Blomenville (most) ➞ Regis motors
2. Regis motors (most) ➞ Blomenville
3. Regis motors sold most new cars last year

ANALYSIS: Logically speaking, there’s no way to combine these statements to form a joint statement in the traditional LSAT way.

But, there is one deduction you can make. I’ll demonstrate this by making some numbers. I’ll use the smallest numbers that I can for the most statements (e.g. 51%, instead of 90%.)

• Regis motors new car sales: 100
• Regis motors sales to Blomenville/Regis cars bought in Blomenville: 51
• Cars bought in Blomenville from other companies: 52
• Total cars bought in Blomenville: 103

Blomenville buys most of its new cars not from Regis, and so the number they buy from other companies must be higher than 51. Add them up, and we see that 103 is greater than 100: Blomenville buys a number of cars greater than Regis’ annual sales figure.

Increasingly, LSAT questions require some mathematical thinking. If there’s a question with “most” statements which seems impossible, try putting some numbers to it quickly. You may think “I don’t have time for that!” If so, two tricks:

• Using 100 is easy, because 51 is most of 100
• Practice making different examples with this question that are consistent with the statements. This will make you faster. Collect questions like this when you find them and practice them periodically. (Game 4 on this test is another math example, the property holding game)

___________

1. This doesn’t follow. Maybe last year Regis sold all the new cars in Blomenville, but this year their popularity tanked and their market share fell, along with sales.
   Sales can be up overall but down in one specific market.
2. We don’t know this. We only know Regis’ overall sales were up. But they could be up in places other than Blomenville. Maybe the Blomenville market is going down.
3. Tempting, but not true. Regis could be the biggest seller, even though it doesn’t have the majority.
   For an analogy, I believe Apple is the biggest smartphone seller, but their overall market share is fairly small since there are so many Android manufacturers. But no single other manufacturer is bigger.
4. CORRECT. See the analysis above. You really have to go into a mathematical example to prove this one.
5. We don’t know that. Regis’ overall sales went up, but that could have happened despite a decline in Blomenville.

Recap: The question begins with “Most of the new cars that Regis”. It is a Must be True question. To practice more Must be True questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.