Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT149 S3 Q20 ExplanationMichele: In my professional experience

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

TopicsAgree/Disagree

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Stimulus

Michele: In my professional experience, it’s usually not a good idea for a company to overhaul its databases. The rewards rarely exceed the problems experienced along the way, and I’d database overhaul think twice before proceeding.

Alvaro: But the problems are always caused by a failure to recode the database properly. The best advice for a company considering a do the job right.

What this question is testing

Agree/Disagree

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence 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
20.

Michele and Alvaro disagree with each other about which one of

Answer choices, explained

  1. Unsupported Both4% picked this

    why companies should consider overhauling their

    We don't have either person's position on why companies should consider overhauling their databases. This answer is saying that Michele thinks, "they should consider overhauling for reason X" whereas Alvaro thinks, "they should consider overhauling for reason Y". We don't have a reason for overhauling from either of them, let alone two competing reasons.

  2. Trap12% picked this

    whether the problems experienced during a database overhaul ever outweigh

    Unsupported Disagree Position Too Strong: never outweigh This relates to Michele's 2nd claim, which we decided Alvaro took no position on. In order to pick this answer, we would need one person to agree that "the problems experienced during a database overhaul sometimes outweigh the rewards" (which Michele would definitely agree with) and we'd need the other person to agree that "the problems experienced during a database overhaul never outweigh the rewards". We certainly can't support that Alvaro believes that very extreme claim.

  3. Out of Scope: kinds of overhauls2% picked this

    which kinds of database overhauls have more problems than are justified

    Neither person gets into discussing different types of database overhauls, so we don't have a fight where one person says, "Overhauls of type X have more problems than rewards" whereas the other person says, "No, overhauls of type Y have more problems than rewards".

  4. Correct81% picked this

    what a company should do when considering a

    Why this is right

    Michela's advice for a company considering a database overhaul: - think twice; it's usually not a good idea Alvaro's advice - do the job right

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

  5. Out of Scope: recoding experience1% picked this

    when professional experience is required to correctly recode

    Neither person talks about when professional experience is / isn't needed to correctly recode a database. According to this answer, one person says, "In cases such as X, professional experience is required to correctly recode a database" and the other person says, "no, it's in cases such as Y that professional experience is required to correctly recode a database".

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