LSAT 88, Logical Reasoning II, Q25, LSATHacks

LR Question 25 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: The technical sophistication of commercial fishing equipment…

QUESTION TYPE: Must be True

FACTS:

1. From 1960 to 2010, the commercial fishing industry harvested a greater percentage of fish by weight each year.
2. The fishing industry’s harvest increased from 1960 to 1995, but didn’t increase after 1995

ANALYSIS: Fact one tells us that the percentage of fish being caught is going up, but the weight isn’t. What would cause this discrepancy? It could be that the total amount of fish, by weight, in the world’s oceans has decreased. In this case, since there are less fish out there, the total weight would decrease. But since the overall denominator has shrunk, if they’re catching more fish each year, then the percentage would increase.

___________

1. The stimulus doesn’t tell us the average weight of each fish
2. The stimulus doesn’t tell us what happens after 2010.
3. CORRECT. If the amount of fish (denominator) shrunk, that means any increase in harvest would result in a greater percentage caught.
4. What does “significantly lower” mean? We only know that there was no increase between 2010 and 1995, not that there was a decrease. It could be that the harvest stayed the same during those years.
5. The stimulus doesn’t tell us what happened before 1960.

Recap: The question begins with “The technical sophistication of commercial fishing equipment”. It is a Must be True question. Learn how to master LSAT MBT questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.

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