Babson: The idea of charging people a dollar to read individual articles and essays online, while novel, will succeed if the quality of the articles and essays is high enough.
Babson's 1st Claim
If the quality of the articles / essays is high enough, charging $1 per article/essay will succeed. Does Cortez argue that this plan won't succeed?
Yes, kinda! He says,
If X is a fact, and X is a bad sign for those hoping to earn money online by charging $1 per article/essay, then Cortez is conveying pessimism about the prospects of people hoping to make money by charging $1 per article. So they do seem to disagree about B's first claim!
Babson's 2nd Claim
A dollar ain't much money. Does Cortez argue it is a lot of money?
No, Cortez doesn't really indicate whether $1 is a lot or a little. He's only talking about what people are used to spending $1 on vs. what they aren't used to spending $1 on.
Babson's 3rd Claim
In many countries people routinely tip good service with more than $1. Does Cortez argue that there aren't many countries where people routinely tip more than $1?
No, Cortez definitely seems to agree with this 3rd claim. He is saying, So he agrees with Babson on this point.
Evaluate
Since Person 2 disagreed with one of Person 1's explicit claims, we have a pretty good angle on what the correct answer will be (it will sound like Person 1's first claim, or its negation). We could go deeper and think about what each party is assuming, but let's cross that bridge if the answer choices for us to.
In the meantime, can we talk about the elephant in the room?
What sort of insane name is Babson? Has LSAC written enough questions now that they've exhausted all normal names and are determined never to repeat themselves?
Is Babson achieving cultural representation for some culture I don't recognize? It sounds like it's from the ahistorical past and future. It's timeless, but definitely sci-fi.
"Babson & Cortez" sounds like a low-rent cop drama on a streaming service you didn't even realize you had access to, like Crackle. The executives at Sling are praying that their fall lineup is buoyed by Babson & Cortez,
Okay, I'm done. But I will make this public service announcement -- I think it's healthy and cathartic to laugh at least once during your LSAT. It releases stress and reminds you that you're still in charge.
Goal
Let's look for something like Babson's first claim.
Babson thinks charging $1 / article online will succeed if the quality is high. Cortez thinks, regardless of quality, that plan does not have much hope (since people aren't accustomed to paying for articles).
Babson, we could say, is assuming that people would be willing to pay for articles.