Help on LR question--I thank you ahead of time 4 your input Forum

[LSAT_Padawan]

Why is "A" the correct answer choice to the following question stated below?

Proponents of the electric car maintain that when the technical problems associated with its battery design are solved, such cars will be widely used and, because they are emission-free, will result in an abatement of the environmental degradation caused by auto emissions. But unless we dam more rivers, the electricity to charge these batteries will come from nuclear or coal-fired power plants. Each of these three power sources produces considerable environmental damage. Thus, the electric car____.
Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?

(A) will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe
(B) will probably remain less popular than other types of cars
(C) requires that purely technical problems be solved before it can succeed
(D) will increase the total level of emissions rather than reduce it
(E) will not produce a net reduction in environmental degradation

I picked (E) because I incorrectly surmised that the stimulus conclusion states "but unless we dam more rivers, the electricity to charge these batteries will come from nuclear or coal-fired power plants. Each of these three power sources produces considerable environmental damage. Thus, the electric car_____" will not produce a net reduction in environmental degradation. I guess that is NOT 100% true because the they can figure out a clean way (damming rivers) than the electricity will not come from dirty power sources that cause enviro damage. The correct answer is (A) will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe. But I can argue that the premise states that if they figure out a way to dam the rivers, it will produce clean electricity so it will NOT "have worse environmental consequences."

[blhblahblah]

RC fail

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... =6&t=36019

[bees]

Aren't you having to add a premise in order to make your argument against (A)? You're not allowed to do that. As far as the stimulus is concerned, more dams aren't being built, so the electricity is coming from other sources, resulting in (A) being the correct answer.

Also, what the above poster said.

[spearnreel]

Damming rivers also produces considerable environmental damage.

[WellNow]

All three sources produce considerable environmental damage. Also, E is not correct because the prompt does not tell you that an increase in the use of dirty power sources will entirely offset the environmental benefits of reduced emissions. Just because all 4 produce negative environmental consequences does not mean that they do so in equal measures.

[haole_20]

The choices clearly come down to "A" and "E". I would choose "A" primarily because it is a weaker statement. Stronger stances are tougher to adequately support. I'm sure there is a better reason for why "A" is correct but this is a method I often used on these types of questions (especially when narrowed down to 2 choices) and it served me well.

EDIT: and by weaker I mean it uses the word "may"

[Shrimps]

First of all, what does this question have to do with LSAT? "Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?" This is a GMAT-type question, isn't it?

"(E) will not produce a net reduction in environmental degradation" is plainly wrong because it makes a claim that can only be proven with statistics, which the text does not offer.

"(A) will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe" can be correct in that it attacks the beliefs of the proponents, not actual facts. Problem is, the author of the text never attempted to prove that the proponents have unrealistic expectations of the environmental consequences of switching to electricity-powered vehicles. This text can be examined as an example of an informal fallacy, a straw-man argument, a type of an ad hominem or something along those lines. Ask people better trained in informal logic than me.

Anyway, LSAT_Padawan: there are close to 60 real LSAT tests available for you, plus some excellent prep materials using those, like the two Powerscore bibles. Why are you doing these sorts of questions?

[skip james]

First of all, what does this question have to do with LSAT? "Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?" This is a GMAT-type question, isn't it?

"(E) will not produce a net reduction in environmental degradation" is plainly wrong because it makes a claim that can only be proven with statistics, which the text does not offer.

"(A) will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe" can be correct in that it attacks the beliefs of the proponents, not actual facts. Problem is, the author of the text never attempted to prove that the proponents have unrealistic expectations of the environmental consequences of switching to electricity-powered vehicles. This text can be examined as an example of an informal fallacy, a straw-man argument, a type of an ad hominem or something along those lines. Ask people better trained in informal logic than me.

Anyway, LSAT_Padawan: there are close to 60 real LSAT tests available for you, plus some excellent prep materials using those, like the two Powerscore bibles. Why are you doing these sorts of questions?

this is a real question. it's from one of the rare tests (1-6,8,17), if i remember correctly.

[skip james]

First of all, what does this question have to do with LSAT? "Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?" This is a GMAT-type question, isn't it?

oh and this question type is essentially a 'most strongly supported' question, just phrased a bit differently.

[blhblahblah]

Not a rare test, but between PT 9-12, IIRC.

[Shrimps]

The egg on my face is just breakfast leftovers, nothing else. LSAT did evolve, huh.

[skip james]

The egg on my face is just breakfast leftovers, nothing else. LSAT did evolve, huh.

no they still do this shit. you know those annoying fill-in-the-blank questions?

like: blah blah blah, thus __________________.

Which of the following logically completes the argument?

same shit.

[Shrimps]

So, how frequent are these questions on the latest tests (49-59)?