PrepTest 153, Section 3, Question 21
Columnist: Obviously, money helps one satisfy one's desires.(39 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(7 more words not shown)
- AExtreme wealth impedes(8 more words not shown)
- BThe fewer unfulfilled(7 more words not shown)
- COne's happiness tends(9 more words not shown)
- DThere are very(10 more words not shown)
- ESatisfying one's desires(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Money can certainly help with some desires. If I can't pay the rent or buy food, having enough money to cover those things seems like a real improvement.
So why would people become less happy as they become wealthier? Is this a case of having more money and more problems? Or could the unhappy people be especially driven to work harder and become wealthy in the first place? Those are possible explanations to investigate. Observing unhappy wealthy people wouldn't by itself tell us that the money made them unhappy.
The columnist offers a different account. Once you can afford what you used to want, you start wanting other things. You can pay for food and housing, but now you want a yacht or a private jet. After reaching one goal, you move the goal again. I can see how that could leave someone with more desires still unsatisfied.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to strengthen the argument, so let's make sure we've identified the claim. The second sentence says people become less happy as they become wealthier. The multiplying desires are supposed to explain why. My first thought is to look for evidence of that decline—perhaps an example of someone becoming wealthier and less happy. I don't yet have a precise missing connection in mind.
Working the answers
- A
This addresses the extreme end of wealth and the highest possible level of happiness. The argument claims a more general decline as wealth increases. Someone could become happier while getting richer and still fail to reach the maximum possible happiness. A would be compatible with that upward trend, so it doesn't give us the downward relationship the columnist needs.
- BCorrect
This reveals a connection I hadn't isolated in the prediction. The evidence is about unfulfilled desires. The conclusion is about happiness. We need a reason to move from having more of the first to having less of the second.
B supplies that relationship: fewer unfulfilled desires means greater happiness. The columnist says becoming wealthier leaves a person with more unfulfilled desires, so B makes that change a reason to expect less happiness. It supports the argument through the evidence actually offered, rather than merely presenting another unhappy wealthy person.
- C
Failing to become happier isn't the same as becoming less happy. Imagine someone gets a desired purchase and feels exactly as happy afterward as before. That fits C, but it doesn't show the decline the columnist claims.
- D
Wanting more money could fit the picture of people continually wanting more. But the conclusion concerns happiness, and D never connects that wish to being less happy. A wealthy person could enjoy life while still thinking additional money would be welcome. This leaves the crucial step unresolved.
- E
Other things may affect happiness too. That doesn't explain why the additional unfulfilled desires described here would make someone less happy. We aren't trying to establish that desire satisfaction is the only relevant factor; we're trying to establish the effect of the particular change the columnist cites.
More Strengthen questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Strengthen questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.