Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT103 S3 Q21 Explanation

The companies that are the prime

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsSufficient Assumption

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Stimulus

The companies that are the prime purchasers of computer software will not buy a software package if the costs of training staff to use it are high, and we know that it is expensive to teach people a software package that demands the memorization of unfamiliar computer software cannot require users to memorize unfamiliar commands.

What this question is testing

Sufficient Assumption

Your task

Find the assumption that, if added, guarantees the conclusion follows.

Common trap

Answers that only partly bridge the gap, leaving the conclusion unproven.

Winning move

Identify the new term in the conclusion and pick the choice that links it to the evidence.

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

The question
21.

The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following

Answer choices

  1. Illegal Negation8% picked this

    If most prime purchasers of computer software buy a software product, that product

    We want an answer that says, "if prime purchasers will not buy it, it won't be successful". This answer is offering an illegal negation of of that: "if prime purchases will buy it, it will be successful"

  2. Unrelated to Goal9% picked this

    Commercial computer software that does not require users to memorize unfamiliar commands is no more expensive

    Since this answer isn't providing us with any rule that sounds like "To be successful, you can't do X", or "Success requires X", it's not worth reading.

  3. Correct61% picked this

    Commercial computer software will not be successful unless prime purchasers

    Why this is right

    This is the missing link we predicted. Unless means "if-not", which means we put the negated version of the idea that's attached to unless on the if side of the arrow (the left side). So when we see "unless prime purchasers buy it", we think "put prime purchasers do not buy it on the Left of the arrow": Prime purchasers ? won't be successful don't buy it We know that software that makes you memorize unfamiliar commands is expensive to teach people, and because of that, prime purchasers won't buy such software. This answer then tells us that the software therefore won't be successful, which proves the conclusion true.

    Skill tested: Sufficient Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  4. Unrelated to Goal5% picked this

    If the initial cost of computer software is high, but the cost of training users is low, prime purchasers

    Since this answer isn't providing us with any rule that sounds like "To be successful, you can't do X", or "Success requires X", it's not worth reading.

  5. Unrelated to Goal18% picked this

    The more difficult it is to learn how to use a piece of software, the more expensive it is to teach a

    Since this answer isn't providing us with any rule that sounds like "To be successful, you can't do X", or "Success requires X", it's not worth reading.

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