PT 57 LR1 Question 19 Forum

[gerrard4]

Hi guys! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I took PT 57 today, and boy this was a tough one. It seems like it shouldn't be too bad, but I had a tough time with Section 2, Question 19. Maybe I've been looking at these for too long, but I can't seem to see how answer choice C parallels the stimulus. This is what I get:

Stimulus:
Premise: Win --> Willing to cooperate --> Motivated
Conclustion: ~Motivated --> ~Win

For answer choice C:
Premise: Retain status --> Raise more money --> Increased campaigning
Conclusion: Retain status --> Increase campaigning

To me it seems like the stimulus takes the contrapositive, but C doesn't, so I'm not sure I see the parallel here. If someone could point me in the right direction that'd be really great. Thanks all!

[Cambridge LSAT]

Since a conditional statement is logically equivalent to its contrapositive, it doesn't matter how it's phrased. It's the logical inference resulting from combining two statements that makes choice C parallel to the stimulus. One way of translating statements with the word unless is to replace unless with if not. Doing so would result in the contrapositive of the chain inference in the answer choice:
[strike]increases its campaigning[/strike] → [strike]retains its status[/strike]

The following are the answer choices, and the conclusions that would make them parallel to the stimulus.
(A) Premise: healthy → exercise → risk of injury; Parallel: healthy → risk of injury; [strike]risk of injury[/strike] → [strike]healthy[/strike]
(B) Premise: improve → learn → make mistakes; Parallel: improve → make mistakes; [strike]make mistakes[/strike] → [strike]improve[/strike]
(D) Premise: repair your own bicycle → enthusiastic → mechanical aptitude; Parallel: repair your own bicycle → mechanical aptitude; [strike]mechanical aptitude[/strike] → [strike]repair your own bicycle[/strike]
(E) Premise: getting a ticket → waiting in line → patience; Parallel: getting a ticket → patience; [strike]patience[/strike] → [strike]getting a ticket[/strike]

Note that the conclusions in D and E, as they appear on the test, both involve mistaken negations.

[gerrard4]

Wow thanks for your help! I guess I just wasn't expecting to see the contrapositive. Thanks for clarifying that though Cambridge. I'm glad to get a mistake like that out before test day.