Q6 - In the first phase of

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

We're asked to find an answer choice that is best illustrated by the information in the stimulus. This question is a principle question. We're asked to find a proposition (principle) that is best illustrated and it's important to remember that the proposition needs to reflect both examples from the stimulus.

(A) illustrates both examples in the stimulus. In the first case, employers were saving money by switching from many laborers to just a few, and in the second example the employers are saving money by switching from high-skilled employees to low-skilled employees.
(B) may be true. But it seems to run counter to the second example. Employers are seeking low-skilled workers today, not high skilled.
(C) may be true, but really only addresses the second example, and isn't an illustration of the first.
(D) is close, but we don’t know and it probably isn’t true that technology creates just as many jobs.
(E) is not discussed. We cannot say that technological innovations now affect all industries.

[mrudula_2005]

well when you synthesize both examples, C seems to be illustrative of what is going on - way back when, during the first phase of the industrial revolution, "many unskilled workers could be replaced by just a few skilled workers" whereas "today" things are reversed with managers replacing "highly paid skilled workers with a smaller number of less-skilled workers" - so don't both these examples point to a trend that illustrates C? - indeed, unlike during the first phase of the industrial revolution when highly skilled workers had an advantage, now its the other way around. I did pick A but I am having great trouble seeing where C goes off track.

thanks!

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

I completely agree that answer choice (C) is very tempting.

Another way to look at this question is that the two examples serve to illustrate a point. This structure is actually quite common on the LSAT.

______:_________ .

Usually, what comes before the colon or semicolon is the conclusion of the argument and what comes after the colon or semicolon is the evidence for why it's true.

In this question, the claim before the semicolon is that "this technology became widely used because it was economically attractive." What comes after that claim are two examples that illustrate that point.

So the point that is being illustrated should reflect the point before the semicolon. Answer choice (A) definitely matches that claim best. Answer choice (C) is definitely tempting, but not really the point that is being illustrated by the two examples.

Does that help clear this one up a bit? I too was tempted on answer choice (C) because it feels supported by the examples, but it doesn't best illustrate the point being made in the argument.

[alinanny]

I chose C because it seems to be supported just as much as A is.

I think the key here was that after the first example we have "...became widely used because it was economically attractive" and then after the second example we have " highly paid skilled workers" which at the end of the day means that what this two examples have in common is that it allows for a savings in labor cost.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Here's the key to principle questions: you need to utilize the evidence and the conclusion of an argument contained in the stimulus when looking for the illustrated principle.

The following represents the argument structure: introduces a phenomenon (machines), observes something about the phenomenon (widely utilized), offers an explanation for the observation (economically enticing), offers evidence for why the explanation is correct, and then offers a way that the phenomenon might be used in the future. Looking at the stimulus, the only conclusion made is that technology became widely used because it was economically attractive.

So the answer that represents the best illustration of that argument would be the correct answer - answer choice (A) hits right at the argument core.

Another way you can look at this is from elimination. You could prove why (A) best represents an argument in the stimulus or you can show why answer choice (C) does not. The last sentence states that today's managers are looking for a way to replace these highly skilled workers with fewer lower paid workers, but that doesn't mean that they've found it yet. Answer choice (C) would suggest the managers had already found the technology that they are still looking for.

What do you think?

[chike_eze]

I had to sketch stuff on the board to wrap my head around this one. I also thought (C) was an attractive choice. But after reading explanations on this thread, (A) seems more plausible to me. Thanks "mshermn".

My thought process now:

"Industrial revolution.. machines worked much faster than human workers" So, this would translate to increased productivity (but not necessarily decreased labor cost).

"Many unskilled workers replaced by a few skilled workers". Well, this would not definitely reduce labor cost, because skilled workers may be paid more than unskilled workers. So labor costs could remain the same. But It is also possible that reducing many unskilled workers for a few skilled workers could reduce labor costs, but this is not necessarily true.

"Economically attractive". What could this mean? decreased cost, increased productivity, increased revenue? other... This is the main question!

"Replace highly paid skilled workers with a smaller number of less-skilled workers". Okay, so what's the incentive for Managers to do this? Lets, see... Decrease in total number of workers. Decrease in cost per worker (probably). Hmm, seems like managers are attempting to reduce overall "human worker" cost (labor cost).

(C) Economically attractive = "Highly skilled workers no longer have an advantage over unskilled workers". Infers what may result if managers find what they are looking for, but (as was pointed out earlier) it does not explain previous example(s).

(A) Economically attractive = "reduce labor costs". Aha! Provides an explanation for "many unskilled workers replaced by a few skilled workers" and managers' incentive to "replace highly paid skilled workers with unskilled workers".

[alana.canfield]

Another way you can look at this is from elimination. You could prove why (A) best represents an argument in the stimulus or you can show why answer choice (C) does not. The last sentence states that today's managers are looking for a way to replace these highly skilled workers with fewer lower paid workers, but that doesn't mean that they've found it yet. Answer choice (C) would suggest the managers had already found the technology that they are still looking for.

I also used the process of elimination here, although I quickly eliminated (C) for a different reason: the stimulus refers to to replacing "HIGHLY PAID skilled workers" with less-skilled workers, yet (C) is referring to the relative advantage of "HIGHLY SKILLED workers". We don't know anything about "highly skilled workers". We only know about "highly paid" workers who are skilled. It could be the managers want to keep their highly skilled workers but all the average workers (with the high pay) they want to replace with less skilled workers. That allows us to eliminate (C) fairly quickly.

[shodges]

Another way you can look at this is from elimination. You could prove why (A) best represents an argument in the stimulus or you can show why answer choice (C) does not. The last sentence states that today's managers are looking for a way to replace these highly skilled workers with fewer lower paid workers, but that doesn't mean that they've found it yet. Answer choice (C) would suggest the managers had already found the technology that they are still looking for.

I also used the process of elimination here, although I quickly eliminated (C) for a different reason: the stimulus refers to to replacing "HIGHLY PAID skilled workers" with less-skilled workers, yet (C) is referring to the relative advantage of "HIGHLY SKILLED workers". We don't know anything about "highly skilled workers". We only know about "highly paid" workers who are skilled. It could be the managers want to keep their highly skilled workers but all the average workers (with the high pay) they want to replace with less skilled workers. That allows us to eliminate (C) fairly quickly.

Great catch!

[erikwoodward10]

Even after reading all of the above, I still don't see how A can be correct, because we don't know how much money the less-skilled workers are making today. All of the above arguments assume that they make less money than the "highly paid skilled workers", and thus that the net salary of a few low skilled workers would be less than that of a single highly paid skilled worker, but the stimulus never specifies this.

"A" can only be correct if we assume that the low-skilled workers don't collectively make as much as a single highly skilled worker. This type of extra assumption seems concerning for a principal question, where extraneous/new information in answer choices should be wrong.

[roflcoptersoisoi]

Here's the key to principle questions: you need to utilize the evidence and the conclusion of an argument contained in the stimulus when looking for the illustrated principle.

The following represents the argument structure: introduces a phenomenon (machines), observes something about the phenomenon (widely utilized), offers an explanation for the observation (economically enticing), offers evidence for why the explanation is correct, and then offers a way that the phenomenon might be used in the future. Looking at the stimulus, the only conclusion made is that technology became widely used because it was economically attractive.

So the answer that represents the best illustration of that argument would be the correct answer - answer choice (A) hits right at the argument core.

Another way you can look at this is from elimination. You could prove why (A) best represents an argument in the stimulus or you can show why answer choice (C) does not. The last sentence states that today's managers are looking for a way to replace these highly skilled workers with fewer lower paid workers, but that doesn't mean that they've found it yet. Answer choice (C) would suggest the managers had already found the technology that they are still looking for.

What do you think?

Hi matt, fantastic explanation, I just want to quibble a little with your reasoning for eliminating (C). The stimulus talks about HIGHLY PAID skilled workers, not necessarily highly skilled workers. In my view this is a very important distinction. These highly paid skilled workers could be medium/normal skilled workers that are high paid. Given that we are unable to ascertain how skilled these workers are C is not at all provable given that we're told.