ohthatpatrick Wrote:PHENOMENON: This year, significantly fewer highway fatalities than last year
AUTHOR'S EXPLANATION: The speed limit reduction led to the fewer fatalities
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There are two pressure points for an LSAT explanation:
1. Plausibility of the Author's Explanation
2. Alternative explanations for the same evidence
(C) was almost a #1. Had it said "the author assumes a relation between speed limit and the number of highway fatalities", it would be correct.
But even if the answer said "the author assumes a relation between speed limit and the number of highway fatalities" would this be a necessary assumption? The premise is a correlation (there have been significantly fewer highway fatalities than there were in the previous year) and the conclusion is a causation (speed limit reduction can reduce traffic fatalities). The correlation/causation is explicit in the stimulus (both the premise and conclusion) while an assumption is an unstated premise, which is not explicit, so wouldn't the refashioned answer above be incorrect as well?