PrepTest 138, Section 3, Question 4
Over the last few decades, public outcries against(34 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AIn the city(17 more words not shown)
- BNo city has(10 more words not shown)
- CMost of the(16 more words not shown)
- DThe most polluted(14 more words not shown)
- EPublic criticism led(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The public complained, regulations became stricter, and the dirtiest cities got cleaner. Did the complaints actually help?
If that were all we knew, we might wonder whether something else caused the improvement. But the last sentence settles an important part of the story: these cities would not have improved this way without the stricter regulations. We must accept that statement. The regulations weren't just something that happened around the same time.
What we’re looking for
Now connect the steps. Public outcry brought about the regulations, and the regulations were needed for the improvement. So public criticism helped bring about cleaner air in the cities that had been the most polluted thirty years ago. That's the inference I expect. It needn't say that criticism was the only cause or that every city improved.
Working the answers
- A
Which city has the worst pollution today? We aren't told. The passage follows the cities that were worst thirty years ago, and today's worst city might be a different one. We don't know whether that city's air improved or deteriorated.
- B
This makes a claim about every city. We only know that the cities that were most polluted thirty years ago improved. A city outside that group could have become more polluted without contradicting anything in the passage.
- C
We know the complaints helped produce regulations, not where most of the complaints came from. People living outside the most polluted cities could have joined the public outcry. The passage doesn't count the critics or identify their home cities.
- D
A city can improve substantially and still have the worst air. Imagine that all the formerly dirtiest cities got cleaner but remained more polluted than the others. The passage would still be true. Improvement within a group doesn't tell us whether its position relative to other cities changed.
- ECorrect
This joins the two stated connections. Public criticism brought about stricter regulations, and those regulations were necessary for the improvement in the formerly most polluted cities. The criticism therefore led to an improvement through the regulations it helped produce. E keeps the correct group of cities and doesn't claim that the criticism acted alone.
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.