Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT146 S2 Q8 Explanation

Manager: The only employees

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

TopicsFlaw

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Stimulus

Manager: The only employees who should receive bonuses this year are those who were exceptionally productive over the past year. Liang is an excellent account executive, but she works in a corporate division that has failed to meet its should not receive a bonus this year.

What this question is testing

Flaw

Your task

Describe the reasoning error the argument actually commits.

Common trap

Answers that name a real logical flaw the argument doesn't actually make.

Winning move

Articulate the gap in the reasoning yourself, then match it to the choice that describes that gap.

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 reasoning in the manager's argument is flawed in that

Answer choices

  1. Out of Scope1% picked this

    fails to take into account the possibility that the standards by which productivity is judged might vary across

    The argument never compares different divisions in the corporation. Any variation of standards from one division to another is outside the scope of the argument and has no clear impact.

  2. Out of Scope1% picked this

    overlooks the possibility that a corporation as a whole can have a profitable year even though one division

    The argument never discusses profits. It also never discusses the corporation as a whole, only the corporate division that Liang works in. Profits and the corporation as a whole are outside the scope of the argument and have no clear impact.

  3. Out of Scope1% picked this

    fails to justify its use of one group's performance as the basis for a conclusion about

    The argument is based on the performance of Liang's division but never discusses the performance of a wholly different group.

  4. Correct97% picked this

    reaches a conclusion about the performance of one member of a group merely on the basis of the performance of

    Why this is right

    This accurately describes the Part vs. Whole flaw in this argument.

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

  5. Out of Scope0% picked this

    takes for granted that an employee who has an unproductive year will not be exceptionally

    The argument does not make any assumptions about subsequent years. The argument only discusses productivity over the past year. Performance in subsequent years is outside the scope of the argument.

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