Logical Reasoning

PT112 · S4 · Q16 Sales manager: The highest priority

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

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Sales manager: The highest priority should be given to the needs of the sales department, because without successful sales the company as a whole would fail.

Sales Mgr Conclusion

The sales department should get the highest priority.

Sales Mgr Evidence (because)

Successful sales are necessary for the company's success.

Shipping Mgr's Response

Several other departments are also necessary for the company to succeed.

But you can't give the highest priority to all of them; that's impossible.

Evaluate

Does this response feel like any of the Big 3 method moves (analogies, faulty implications, or alternatives)?

Yes! This is basically showing the faulty implications of the Sales Manager's logic.

He is thinking, .

She is pointing out that by that logic, since several departments are necessary for success (the company would fail without them), that would mean that each of those several departments should be the highest priority of all.

But naturally that's impossible. You can't give multiple things higher priority than all the others. There's only room for one at #1.

So the shipping mgr has shows that if we were to follow the sales mgr's logic, it would lead us to an impossible outcome.

Goal

Let's look for an answer that sounds like, .

16.

The shipping manager criticizes the sales manager's argument by pointing out

  1. that the sales department taken

    Bad Description

    The shipping manager doesn't say sales isn't critical. She agrees that is is necessary to success, but points out that it isn't unique in that regard. There are other departments that are also necessary to success.

    27% picked this

  2. the ambiguity of the term

    Bad Description

    The shipping manager doesn't accuse the sales manager of using "highest priority" ambiguously. The response is saying that the sales manager's logic would break the concept of highest priority. We'd have to simultaneously make several departments the highest priority of all departments.

    5% picked this

  3. that departments other than sales

    Bad Description

    The shipping manager doesn't rank other departments as more vital than sales, just equally vital. The point isn't which department is most important; it's that the sales manager's reasoning would require top priority for several departments at once, which is impossible.

    2% picked this

  4. Correct

    an absurd consequence of its

    Why this is right

    An "absurd consequence" is a great synonym for a "faulty implication". The first person assumed, "if needed for success, then should be the highest priority department". The second person shows that this logic would lead to an impossible/absurd state of affairs in which we need to consider several different departments to each be the highest priority among all departments.

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

    64% picked this

  5. that the sales manager makes

    Bad Description

    The shipping manager doesn't accuse the sales manager of some Sampling flaw. She just shows that using the sales manager's logic would imply an impossible state of affairs.

    1% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free