Logical Reasoning

PT120 · S4 · Q7 If cold fusion worked, it

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

If cold fusion worked, it would provide almost limitless power from very inexpensive raw materials, materials far cheaper than coal or oil.

Given that ...

If cold fusion worked, it would provide almost limitless power from very inexpensive raw materials, materials far cheaper than coal or oil.

How can it be that ...

Replacing all traditional electric generators that use coal/oil with cold-fusion power plants would result in a reduction of no more than 25% in the average residential electric bill.

Evaluate

If cold fusion provides almost limitless power from very inexpensive raw materials, then how come using all cold fusion generators would only reduce electric bills by 25?

Is there some other part of cold fusion electricity delivery that adds a big expense? (Maybe buying a suitable site for the power plant is way more expensive / maybe transporting the energy is more expensive)

Is there some other part of the electric bill that isn't "cost of electricity"? (maybe most of it is fees and taxes that don't change, even when the electricity gets cheaper).

Goal

Get rid of the four answers that give us a way to explain why the electric bill would still be close to as expensive as ever (even though the cold fusion plants would provide almost limitless power from cheap raw materials).

7.

Each of the following, if true, would help to resolve the apparent discrepancy between the predictions above EXCEPT:

  1. Cold-fusion power plants would be

    Helps Explain

    This balances out the cost savings we get from cold-fusion power with an extra cost that comes with cold-fusion. Since the plants cost more to build and maintain, that helps explain why the electric bill is still mostly the same as before. The electric company has to cover their costs of building / maintaining the more expensive plants.

    5% picked this

  2. Environmental regulations now placed on

    Helps Explain

    This balances out the cost savings we get from cold-fusion power with an extra cost that comes with cold-fusion. Since the cold-fusion plants would have to pay more money for environmental regulations, that helps explain why the electric bill is still mostly the same as before. The electric company has to cover their costs of paying regulatory fees.

    5% picked this

  3. Correct

    Most electric companies would be

    Why this is right

    This has No Impact, because the conversation isn't about, "Will we ever switch everything to cold fusion? Would electric companies be willing to do so?" The conversation is, "In a hypothetical world where everything was switched over to cold fusion, how come electric bills wouldn't be way, way lower?" This doesn't give us any way to explain why electric bills would be mostly the same price.

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

    75% picked this

  4. Only a relatively small portion

    Helps Explain

    This tells us that what the electric company pays for the power it supplies is only a small portion of the electric bill (maybe it's around 25-30% of the bill, whereas the rest of the bill covers costs such as facility fees / taxes / regulations / advertising / human workforce etc.). So even if cold fusion made the energy part of the bill essentially free, we'd still have to pay 75% of what we're normally paying, because we have to cover all those other costs that the electric company has.

    7% picked this

  5. Personnel costs for the distribution

    Helps Explain

    This is the worst of the four eliminate-able answers, because it's a weaker version of (D). But, like (D), it's reminding us that there are other costs involved with an electric company besides just raw materials and power generation. Even if your raw materials were free, you still have to pay all the employees that run the power plant / run the electric company / do customer service / do emergency repairs / etc. So, like (D), it's saying the reason that cold fusion would only somewhat decrease our energy bills is because a lot of what the energy company has to pay for has nothing to do with raw materials.

    8% 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