Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Medium

PT10 S3 P1 Q8 Explanation

Oil Pumps

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

TopicsInferenceScience

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Passage

Oil companies need offshore platforms primarily because the oil or natural gas the companies extract from the ocean floor has to be processed before pumps can be used to move the substances ashore. But because processing crude (unprocessed oil or gas) on a platform rather than at facilities onshore exposes workers to longer impart enough energy to transport the crude mixture through the pipeline and to the shore.

Of the two pumps being redesigned, the positive-displacement pump is promising because it is immune to sudden shifts in the proportion of liquid to gas in the crude mixture. But the pump’s design, which consists of a single or twin screw pushing the fluid from one end of the pump to the from the oil that normally accompanies it, significant reductions in head can occur as it operates.

Research in the development of these pumps is focused mainly on trying to reduce the cost of the positive-displacement pump and attempting to make the centrifugal pump more tolerant of gas. Other researchers are looking at ways of adapting either kind of pump for use underwater, the sea bottom to processing facilities onshore, eliminating platforms.

What this question is testing

Inference

Anticipate

This is an Inference question that's really about a passage detail. P1 says outright: oil companies need platforms because crude has to be processed before pumps can move it to shore. So currently, crude must be processed first.

Goal

Looking for an answer that captures "processed before being moved to shore." Be wary of:

Answers describing the unprocessed state of crude (multiphase, mixed, mostly liquid) — that's how crude arrives, not the form needed for transport to shore

Answers about pump-internal challenges that aren't about how crude reaches shore

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
8.

The passage implies that the current state of technology necessitates that crude be

Answer choices

  1. Wrong View14% picked this

    in a multiphase

    "Multiphase state" describes what crude is when it comes out of the wellhead — not what it must be in order to be moved to shore. In fact, the multiphase nature is exactly what causes problems for current pumps; the passage says crude must be processed before being moved to shore.

  2. Out of Scope5% picked this

    in equal proportions of gas to

    The passage doesn't suggest that crude must be in equal proportions of gas and liquid to be moved. The challenge is that proportions shift unpredictably; the solution discussed is processing, not balancing the ratio.

  3. Out of Scope1% picked this

    with small proportions of corrosive

    The passage doesn't describe a corrosive-content requirement. Corrosion comes up only as a property of crude touching the pump materials, not as a precondition for transport to shore.

  4. Correct73% picked this

    after having been

    Why this is right

    P1 says: "Oil companies need offshore platforms primarily because the oil or natural gas the companies extract from the ocean floor has to be processed before pumps can be used to move the substances ashore." That's the explicit current requirement: crude must be processed first.

    Skill tested: Inference · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

  5. Wrong View8% picked this

    largely in the form of a

    The passage doesn't require crude to be largely liquid for transport. It says crude must be processed first, and the surge in gas content (not raw liquid content) is what defeats current pumps.

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