LSAT 112 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q1

LR Question 1 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Joanna: The only way for a company to be successful…

QUESTION TYPE: Method of Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Ruth concludes that it’s possible for a company to succeed by completely changing its business after bankruptcy.

REASONING: Joanna said that it could never happen. But Ruth provided an example of one company that succeeded.

ANALYSIS: Ruth uses a counterexample. A single counter-example is enough to disprove a sufficient-necessary statement.

If I say: “All dogs are brown,” then you can prove me by wrong by pointing to a single dog that is black.

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1. CORRECT. Kelton Company is a counterexample that disproves Joanna’s claim.
2. No. Ruth disagrees with Joanna that the phenomenon even exists.
3. An analogy is different than a counterexample. An analogy is when you prove one argument by showing that the argument works in a parallel situation. Ruth’s evidence instead simply contradicts Joanna’s argument.
4. There’s no ambiguity, Joanna is clear: She doesn’t think a company can succeed by changing its business. Ruth disagrees.
5. Ruth didn’t say that it is always a good idea to change direction and never a good idea to produce the same goods. She just said that it can be a good idea to switch.