LSAT 132 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q13

LR Question 13 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Buying elaborate screensavers-programs that put…

QUESTION TYPE: Principle

PRINCIPLE: Screensavers waste money, even though they save electricity and prevent damage. Employees waste time playing with screensavers.

ANALYSIS: What a funny little argument. Who plays with screensavers these days? This was something people did in the 1990’s though.

The principle can abstractly be summarized as: A plan can have a good result in one area, but have a bad overall result due to side-effects.

___________

1. There are no side-effects here. And not getting the cheapest package might be ok, if students are satisfied.
2. The stimulus wasn’t talking about up-front costs vs. long run savings. All of the costs and benefits of screensavers are long-term.
3. This isn’t necessarily a reason not to order pizza. You don’t have to cook pizza that you order in, even if you have to wait a bit longer. You can just order in advance.
   So this is wrong because the stimulus described a mistake, while it’s not clear that ordering pizza is a mistake.
4. CORRECT. This matches the stimulus. The security system has a small, known benefit (less theft), but the overall effect is negative due to side effects (loss of goodwill).
5. This is similar to B in that it compares up front costs to ongoing costs. The stimulus didn’t talk about the upfront costs of screensavers. All of the costs + benefits were ongoing.

Recap: The question begins with “Buying elaborate screensavers”. It is a Principle question. To practice more Principle questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.