Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT134 S2 Q12 Explanation

Perry: Worker-owned businesses

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

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Stimulus

Perry: Worker-owned businesses require workers to spend time on management decision-making and investment strategy, tasks that are not directly productive. Also, such businesses have less extensive divisions of labor than do investor-owned businesses. Such inefficiencies can lead to low profitability, and thus increase the their risk should not make loans to worker-owned businesses.

What this question is testing

Weaken

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion less likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that look negative but attack a claim the argument never relied on.

Winning move

Find the assumption the argument depends on, then pick the choice that undermines it.

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

The question
12.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens

Answer choices

  1. Too Weak6% picked this

    Businesses with the most extensive divisions of labor sometimes fail to make the fullest use of their

    This provides a drawback to companies with the most extensive divisions of labor. But it does so only sometimes and so does not undermine the argument.

  2. Strengthens7% picked this

    Lenders who specialize in high-risk loans are the largest source of loans

    This supports the conclusion that worker-owned businesses present a greater risk to lenders.

  3. Strengthens / Too Weak2% picked this

    Investor-owned businesses are more likely than worker-owned businesses are to receive

    This supports the conclusion by pointing out that investor-owned businesses receive more loans which might indicate that such businesses present a lower risk to lenders. Additionally, this is about start-up loans which may not be indicative of loans to businesses more generally.

  4. Strengthens5% picked this

    Worker-owned businesses have traditionally obtained loans from cooperative lending institutions established by coalitions

    This indicates what worker-owned businesses may do in response to not receiving loans from traditional lenders and may support the view that worker-owned businesses present a greater risk to lenders that investor-owned businesses.

  5. Correct81% picked this

    In most worker-owned businesses, workers compensate for inefficiencies by working longer hours than do workers

    Why this is right

    This provides an advantage of worker-owned businesses that mitigates one of the factors the argument claims can increase the risk that businesses present to lenders.

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

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