PrepTest 140, Section 2, Question 9
CEO: We have been falsely criticized for not(42 more words not shown)
The reasoning in the CEO's(6 more words not shown)
- Atakes for granted(11 more words not shown)
- Bfails to take(11 more words not shown)
- Cgeneralizes too hastily(15 more words not shown)
- Dtakes for granted(17 more words not shown)
- Eignores the possibility(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Better than before isn't necessarily the best the company can do.
Let's use the CEO's own standard: being environmentally responsible means doing everything available to pollute less. The company has reduced its pollution. Good. But how much room is there to improve further?
Imagine that the old method produced 100 units of pollution, the current one produces 70, and another available method would produce 20. The company could truthfully report a significant improvement and still fail the CEO's test. These numbers aren't facts about this corporation; they show the gap between making progress and exhausting the available improvements.
What we’re looking for
The fact that zero pollution is impossible doesn't close that gap. We don't need a perfect method to find a cleaner one. For the flaw question, look for the overlooked possibility that the corporation could reduce pollution further with methods already available.
Working the answers
- A
The CEO says there are currently no pollution-free methods. That isn't a claim that none could ever be developed. More importantly, the defense can fail right now even if zero pollution will always be impossible: the company might have an available method that produces less pollution than its current one.
- B
The problem isn't that several causes might produce a similar effect. We don't need to identify a different cause of the reported reduction. Even granting that the new methods caused that reduction, the company hasn't shown it is doing all it can.
- C
The CEO doesn't first defeat a narrow criticism and then declare a whole class of criticisms inapplicable. The argument addresses the particular accusation of environmental irresponsibility. Its evidence falls short of the CEO's own standard for rejecting that accusation.
- D
We are told the current methods pollute significantly less. That is a stated result, not a conclusion inferred merely from having tried to improve. The mistake isn't assuming that an attempt succeeded; it's treating some success as the greatest achievable reduction.
- ECorrect
Another currently available method might pollute less than the corporation's current method. If so, the corporation would have improved without doing all it can. E identifies exactly what the CEO needs to rule out before using its progress as proof of environmental responsibility.
More Flaw questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Flaw questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.