LSAT Prep Practice: Logical Reasoning

The weekend is almost upon us! I hope you have something fun planned as a nice break from your LSAT prep this weekend. Remember, it's okay to still have fun once in a while. Don't burn yourself out! We have over two months till the September 2014 LSAT. Today, I thought we could go over a simple logical reasoning question from the actual June 2007 LSAT. Let's dive in:

"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?

  1. will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe
  2. will probably remain less popular than other types of cars
  3. requires that purely technical problems be solved before it can succeed
  4. will increase the total level of emissions rather than reduce it
  5. will not produce a net reduction in environmental degradation

This is an argument completion question. We must find what most logically completes the argument. This is a type of Must Be True question. Let's go over what we know: the stimulus tells us that, ultimately, either more rivers will be dammed or the batteries used in electric cars will be charged by nuclear or coal-fire power plants. The stimulus tells us that "each of these three power sources produces considerable environmental damage." The proponents of the electric car hold that once the technical problems of the car are fixed, there will be a decrease of the environmental degradation caused by auto emissions. However, it seems that they have not taken into consideration this issue of how the batteries are going to be charged.

So, our correct answer is answer choice (A): "will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe."

See how easy that was? And the best part is, logical reasoning makes up 50% of your LSAT score! Keep working hard on your LSAT prep! You got this!!!

Happy Studying!