PrepTest 122, Section 2, Question 16
Most successful entrepreneurs work at least 18 hours(27 more words not shown)
If the statements above are(9 more words not shown)
- AAnyone who has(12 more words not shown)
- BSome entrepreneurs who(9 more words not shown)
- CSome happy entrepreneurs(2 more words not shown)
- DSome entrepreneurs who(9 more words not shown)
- ESome successful entrepreneurs(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Eighteen hours a day leaves little room for anything else. The passage makes that precise: anyone working at least that much has no time for leisure, while every happy entrepreneur has time for leisure. An entrepreneur therefore cannot be both happy and working at least 18 hours a day.
Now bring in success. Most successful entrepreneurs work those long hours, so most successful entrepreneurs aren't happy under these rules. But don't turn “most” into “all.” There could be successful people who work shorter days, have leisure time, and are happy. The passage leaves room for that combination; it doesn't guarantee that anyone actually fits it.
What we’re looking for
The question asks which choice cannot be true. I'd expect something violating the restriction we just found, perhaps a claim that all successful entrepreneurs are happy. As we read, ask whether each situation is forbidden, not whether we've proved that it happens. A choice can be unsupported and still be possible.
Working the answers
- A
The passage doesn't prove this, but it doesn't rule it out. It tells us long workdays eliminate leisure time; A says anyone without leisure time works those long days. Perhaps other things also take away leisure time, but no premise says they do. Since this could be true, it isn't the exception we're seeking.
- B
This is actually established. Most successful entrepreneurs work at least 18 hours a day, so some people belong to both groups: successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs working those hours. Describing the same overlap from the other side doesn't change who is in it.
- C
Some successful entrepreneurs could work shorter hours and have time for leisure. The rules would then allow them to be happy. Most successful entrepreneurs being unhappy doesn't exclude every successful person from the happy group. C is possible.
- DCorrect
This is the forbidden combination. An entrepreneur working at least 18 hours a day has no leisure time. Every happy entrepreneur has leisure time. The person D describes would therefore have to both have and lack leisure time, which cannot fit the premises. D directly violates the rule, even though its wording differs from our initial guess about all successful entrepreneurs.
- E
“Most work at least 18 hours” leaves open the possibility that some work fewer. It could also turn out that all work those hours; the passage doesn't settle that. We only need E to be possible to eliminate it on this cannot-be-true question.
More Must Be True questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Must Be True questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.