#21 - Developer: The builders of the Glen Veil apartment

[Jeff Wren]

Hi 15nae,

The word "most" in the question stem makes this a Strengthen question rather than a Justify question. The word "justify" by itself means to 100% prove the conclusion, whereas "most justify" simply means to get closest to proving the conclusion, which is another way of asking you to strengthen the argument.

We discuss Strengthen and Justify questions (including the differences between them and how to identify them) in lesson 4 of The PowerScore LSAT Course and in chapters 9 and 10 of "The Logical Reasoning Bible."

[CJ12345:]

Hello powerscore,
The explanation for answer choice E seems a little bit strange to me. It appears to link the "construction project" in AC E to the completion of the apartment. If so, it does not align with the conclusion, which suggests voting in favor of the road. However, if I interpret the "construction project" as referring to the road, it is difficult to justify how the road directly benefits anyone, as the road is a necessary assumption for the apartment, and the apartment is what causes the benefit. I am struggling to reconcile the language in answer choice E with the stimulus, and I don't understand why E could be considered correct.

[EmilyOwens]

Hello powerscore,
The explanation for answer choice E seems a little bit strange to me. It appears to link the "construction project" in AC E to the completion of the apartment. If so, it does not align with the conclusion, which suggests voting in favor of the road. However, if I interpret the "construction project" as referring to the road, it is difficult to justify how the road directly benefits anyone, as the road is a necessary assumption for the apartment, and the apartment is what causes the benefit. I am struggling to reconcile the language in answer choice E with the stimulus, and I don't understand why E could be considered correct.

Hi CJ,

The construction project is referring to the road! The completion of apartment complex cannot happen without completion of the road, as mentioned in sentence one of the stimulus. Additionally, after completing the apartment complex, the road wouldn’t directly give benefit to the citizens, but benefit cannot happen without it.

Also note that answer choice (E) does not simply say “anyone who benefits from the construction project,” but it emphasizes the results. The stimulus tells us that building a road would connect the apartments to Sierra which would then positively affect the economy, which everyone benefit from. I hope that helps clear up some confusion.

However, do you always buy things you would benefit from? No! I would benefit from buying a rice cooker, but do I buy it? Nope! I would rather buy cat toys for my children to enjoy instead (even though they don’t benefit me). The argument needs to fill this hole. We can do so by stating explicitly that everyone who benefits from something, even indirectly, should vote in favor of paying for it. This leads us to answer choice (E).