PrepTest 154, Section 4, Question 25
The technical sophistication of commercial fishing equipment increased(54 more words not shown)
If the statements above are(10 more words not shown)
- AAfter 1995, the(21 more words not shown)
- BAfter 2010, improvements(27 more words not shown)
- CThe total amount(16 more words not shown)
- DThe commercial fishing(14 more words not shown)
- ENo significant improvements(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
We're catching a bigger share, but that share no longer weighs more. The total we're taking the share from must be shrinking.
Separate the two facts. From 1960 through 2010, the industry caught a greater percentage of the oceans' total fish weight each year. The actual weight caught grew until 1995, then stopped increasing. A larger percentage isn't necessarily a larger amount when the whole is getting smaller.
Let's give the pattern simple numbers. These illustrate the relationship; they aren't the actual fishing figures.
In 1960, suppose the industry caught 5 pounds, representing 5 percent of the fish weight. That makes the total 100 pounds. In 1995, suppose it caught 10 pounds, representing 10 percent. The total would still be 100 pounds: a bigger catch and a bigger percentage, without a smaller whole.
Now move to 2010. Suppose the share rises to 15 percent, but the catch remains 10 pounds. Ten pounds is now a larger slice of the total. The total is about 66.7 pounds, because 15 percent of 66.7 is about 10. It has fallen from 100 pounds even though the catch stayed flat.
What we’re looking for
That's the inference we need after 1995. If the catch actually declined while its percentage rose, the total would have to shrink as well. We're tracking weight, not the number of individual fish, and the passage doesn't require the catch itself to decline. Staying flat is enough for the reasoning.
Working the answers
- A
We don't know how many individual fish were caught or their average weight. The same total catch weight could come from many small fish or fewer large ones. A proposes a particular change in both count and size that the passage doesn't establish. Keep the given measure—weight—separate from the count of fish.
- B
The information ends in 2010. It tells us nothing about whether later improvements enabled a still-greater percentage to be caught. Extending the pattern beyond the stated period, or declaring that it stopped then, would both require more evidence.
- CCorrect
From 1995 to 2010, an increasing percentage of the total produced no increase in the weight harvested. That can happen only if the total fish weight decreases. The example shows the relationship: 10 pounds moves from 10 percent of a 100-pound whole to 15 percent of a roughly 66.7-pound whole. A greater share without a greater catch means a smaller underlying total.
- D
Did not increase doesn't mean significantly decreased. The catch could have stayed at exactly the same weight, as in our example. The thing that must decrease is the total fish weight in the oceans, not necessarily the weight the industry harvests. D confuses the whole with the amount caught.
- E
We also have no information about improvements before 1960. A statement that technology improved during a particular period doesn't establish that it never improved earlier. Even if the percentage reasoning takes a moment, the unsupported dates in B and E give clear reasons to reject those answers.
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.