Q2 - while sales of other hydro cars

[mshinners]

Question Type:
Necessary Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
Counterpoint: People buy the Hydro because of price and fuel efficiency.
Author's premise: The Hydro is comparable to competition on those metrics.
Author's conclusion: People buy the Hydro to look good to their neighbors.

Answer Anticipation:
Interesting argument structure. The author usually pivots ("However") to the conclusion. Here, though, the pivot is to a fact about the cost/fuel efficiency of a car. The "So" in the following statement should also have led you to viewing that as the conclusion.

The argument here concludes a specific reason for purchasing a car, ruling out others because those factors are comparable between the Hydro and other cars. However, the author himself commits the same flaw he's accusing the Hydro manufacturer of - he never states that other cars aren't viewed as not being environmentally friendly. This argument relies on the Hydro making a statement that people couldn't make by buying other cars, so the answer will likely turn on that.

Correct answer:
(B)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Out of scope/degree. Its popularity doesn't explain why people were purchasing it, which is what this argument is concerned with. Also, this answer is not about the perception of the car, which is what the conclusion cares about. Finally, the car wouldn't have to be the "most" anything for this argument to work; it just has to be enough to drive purchases.

(B) Boom. This answer drives home the comparison we were looking for. If we negate it - The Hydro isn't recognized as being especially environmentally friendly - the argument falls apart.

(C) Out of scope. The conclusion is about the appearance the car gives you, not its safety. If anything, this answer weakens the argument by providing you with a possible alternative reason to buy it.

(D) Out of scope. This answer does not hit on why anyone purchased the car to begin with. Maybe the original purchaser did so because it looked cool, and their neighbors followed suit.

(E) Out of scope comparison. The conclusion is about appearing environmentally responsible, which is different and unrelated to actually being environmentally responsible. Outside of that, "less interest" is a relative term, so it isn't necessary for our argument that's about an absolute question (does this car make you seem environmentally responsible?) instead of a relative one (does this car make you seem more environmentally responsible?).

Takeaway/Pattern:
When the LSAT makes an argument for a specific explanation for an outcome, be sure that other options don't explain the outcome for similar reasons. Here, the correct answer needed to rule out the possibility that the competition to the Hydro was viewed in a way the author assumed the Hydro was viewed.

#officialexplanation

[cgrosinger]

i would greatly appreciate if someone could clarify how to get choice B as the correct answer instead of E?


i am looking forward to quick reply!

[maryadkins]

Here we are told that the hydro is selling more cars than it used to, while other cars aren't. The manufacturers say they know the reason for this: price and low gas usage. But the hydro is the same as the other cars in those regards, so that doesn't make sense!

The person then says, it must be that it's more environmental.

Assumption: That the hydro isn't exactly the same as the other cars, too, in terms of its environment-related features. This MUST be true. If it's not, and the hydro isn't any more environmentally friendly than the other cars, why would this explanation be any better than the others at explaining the difference in sales between the hydro and its competitors?

(B) nails this.

Careful with (E). Why would this argument require that hydro buyers are LESS environmentally conscious than other buyers? The whole argument is that they DO care about the environment (or at least looking like they care about it). (E) is the opposite of what we'd want.

(A) doesn't supply anything we need re: the environment. Nor do (C) or (D).

Hope this helps!