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I did the October 2004 test today, and I missed 4 in the RC section, which I was a little concerned about. My LR score varies a lot, so I am looking for -0 to -1 in LG and -2 to -3 in RC to make up for it. When I was reviewing the questions I missed, I could not make any sense of the answer provided for #7. I let my roommate read the question and answer choices as well without telling him the correct answer or my choice. He scored a 170 last December, so I figured he may be able to cast some light on this. He chose the same answer as me (C) and considered the correct answer (A) as the most easily dismissed of the choices..

I chose the answer choice C. When the author mentions the term, he is offering his opinion on a possible benefit of the plan. The word "unequivocal" in C is a strong choice of wording, but I still do not believe that makes the answer incorrect. Also, the term "one of the few" could cast a little doubt, since it is actually the only benefit the author mentions in his biased analysis, at least for the lawyers. Still, I felt this was the strongest choice by far.

B is wrong because this is more an opinion of the author, not the author presenting the opinion of the plan administrators. Although it is similar to what the author identifies as one of the benefits to the lawyers in the opinion of the administrator, the author is focused primarily on the unestablished lawyers when using the term in the question, while the administrators' claim was more about all lawyers, including established lawyers who already have a large client base. I do not think that B is necessarily completely wrong, I just do not think it is as correct as C. I understand that there is always one correct answer and four incorrect answers, this specific question just has me frustrated.

D is wrong because the term in the question, when used in the context of the passage, does not concern established lawyers who oppose plan participation. It is being used when discussing unestablished lawyers looking to create/expand their client base.

E is wrong because nowhere in the passage does it explicitly say or even suggest that these unestablished lawyers are advocates of the plans.

A, which the answer key deems as the correct answer, is the least correct answer in my opinion. This is the only real benefit to lawyers that the author acknowledges in the entire passage. Although the term in question is mentioned in the same paragraph as the discussion of decreasing quality of legal services, it is in no way linked. The author actually says in the next sentence than the downward pressure on fees will in fact be the cause of this.

Can anyone offer an explanation as to why A is correct and C is incorrect? I hope I was able to convey the logic used when choosing C and dismissing A, B, D, and E. I tried to leave out as many details about the actual question as I could, but if I need to edit this further, I will. I am not sure what exactly can and can't be said when discussing previously administered LSATs.

I think you've misinterpreted what the author's saying in this paragraph. The author says the plans are "unlikely to result in long term client satisfaction" and or "substantial increase in profits for law firms" and "established lawyers will benefit little." The only people that will benefit at all are the inexperienced newer lawyers who use the plan as "marketing devices" which is not a benefit at all to the legal profession because of the lower quality service that will result. The whole last paragraph is about the negative consequences of lawyers using the plan as marketing devices.

C is incorrect because in the authors opinion there is nothing beneficial about the plans. The end result of the plan, and the lawyers using them as marketing devices is the "general lowering of quality for clients", which is paraphrased in answer A.