#9 - Office manager: Every vacation an office worker takes

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[medialaw111516]

Could you please explain why E is correct instead of D? E was my initial prephrase but I saw D and got confused.

[James Finch]

Hi Media Law,

This is why you have to learn to trust your Prephrases! (D) is put there to confuse people, right before the correct answer; you always want to be mindful of trap answers and read through all five choices before picking one. If you have a strong Prephrase, and you see it as one of the answer choices, that should be your choice.

The reason (D) doesn't work is that we don't actually know from the stimulus know whether the worker would be taking more or less aggregate vacation time if they followed the stimulus's recommendation, although the way the last sentence is worded implies to me that they would be taking the same amount of vacation time over the course of a year, just dividing it into smaller chunks. Given that ambiguity, we can't logically criticize the stimulus for something that we aren't sure it is doing (that would be a logical flaw on our part), so (D) doesn't work, while (E), as you note, does.

Hope this helps!

[medialaw111516]

Got it, thanks James!

[lsatbossintraining]

I don't see the issue with (D). The author seems to overlook that what matters is the total amount of vacation, not the way in which it's divided. Put another way, if one takes two one-month long vacations vs. 8 shorter vacations spread throughout the year (the equivalent of two one-month long vacations), couldn't that person still receive the same psychological benefits?

Where am I going wrong?

Many thanks,
Kyle

[Dave Killoran]

Hi LSATBoss,

Thanks for the question. I don't agree with the idea that the author overlooks the total amount of time taken as a factor. As James says above, "The reason (D) doesn't work is that we don't actually know from the stimulus know whether the worker would be taking more or less aggregate vacation time if they followed the stimulus's recommendation, although the way the last sentence is worded implies to me that they would be taking the same amount of vacation time over the course of a year, just dividing it into smaller chunks."

Looking at it again, all the author has talked about is the value of multiple short vacations versus fewer but longer breaks: "several short vacations" vs "one or two long vacations." This is completely consistent with the total amount of time between the two approaches being the same (and in fact would make the advice somewhat more understandable since the difference wouldn't be total time but how it was spent, a la one moving variable instead of two).

Thanks!

[benjemin28]

Hello there,

"How much excursion time do representatives get?" The appropriate response is that it relies upon the organization or association you're utilized by. There is certainly not a set sum, since bosses are not required to furnish excursion leave either with pay or unpaid. A few bosses give excursion time to just full-time workers. Others award excursion time to all representatives. In any case, others offer expert evaluated excursion, contingent upon your work routine and business status.

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Benjemin,

Thanks for the comment! I think I agree with your assessment, but if you have a question about how it applies to this question, we'd be happy to help out. Let us know, otherwise keep up the great work!

Thanks!

Jeremy

[ali124]

Dear Powerscore,

I have read the previous discussions on this topic, but I still have a question about (E).
Although I understand why (D) is incorrect, I was hesitant to choose (E) because it compares the benefit of "a" long vacation with that of "a" short vacation, instead of "several' short vacations, which seemed like a more proper comparison. To me, it seemed obvious that one long vacation would reduce exhaustion more than one short vacation.
Also, even if (E) were true, it doesn't preclude the possibility that several short vacations are more relaxing than one or two long ones.

Is my concern overrode by the word choice in (E) that one long vacation is "much more [relaxing]" than a short one, and therefore, it is possible that several short vacations would still not match in its relaxation effect as one or two long ones?

Thank you!

[Adam Tyson]

Good job focusing on the phrase "much more," Ali! That's the key to understanding answer E here. As to the use of the singular "a," I think it's fair to interpret that here as meaning "each" - each long vacation you take, whether you take one or two or three, will be MUCH better for you than each short short vacation, so that adding up all the short vacations may still not be as good as one or two long ones. Long vacations aren't just more beneficial - they are much more beneficial! That should match our prephrase here, and should at least raise some doubts about the value of the Office Manager's suggestion. You're right that it still could be the case that the short ones add up to more than the long ones, but to weaken we only need to raise doubts about, rather than disprove, the conclusion. This answer is good enough to do that!