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- Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:21 pm
#33195
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=13649)
The correct answer choice is (C)
To respond to this Global Reference question, understanding the second passage author’s perspective is crucial: relative prosperity makes people happier not because of “one-upsmanship,” but rather because it gives them a feeling of success, and of having created value.
Answer choice (A): The second passage begins with a discussion of this idea, but the author subsequently takes issue with this notion, and provides another theory in its place, ruling out this answer choice.
Answer choice (B): The author of passage B concedes that there is a natural drive for relative prosperity, as is reflected in the results of the Solnick and Hemenway study. This choice fails the Fact Test and cannot be the right answer to this Must Be True question.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. If one believed that one’s wealth was entirely attributable to luck, then that person would lack the satisfaction of having created value, which is, according to the second author, the basis of the feelings of success and happiness.
Answer choice (D): The first author mentions that satisfaction rises with rapid increases in pay, but that does not necessarily mean that gradual increases would not increase satisfaction, and there is no reason to think that the second author would agree with this choice either, since it is success, according to the second passage, feelings of which can accompany increases in pay, that truly brings happiness with the sense of having created value.
Answer choice (E): Both authors discuss the study which suggests that relative prosperity is what’s important; the first author points out that as societies have grown wealthier they have not grown happier.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=13649)
The correct answer choice is (C)
To respond to this Global Reference question, understanding the second passage author’s perspective is crucial: relative prosperity makes people happier not because of “one-upsmanship,” but rather because it gives them a feeling of success, and of having created value.
Answer choice (A): The second passage begins with a discussion of this idea, but the author subsequently takes issue with this notion, and provides another theory in its place, ruling out this answer choice.
Answer choice (B): The author of passage B concedes that there is a natural drive for relative prosperity, as is reflected in the results of the Solnick and Hemenway study. This choice fails the Fact Test and cannot be the right answer to this Must Be True question.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. If one believed that one’s wealth was entirely attributable to luck, then that person would lack the satisfaction of having created value, which is, according to the second author, the basis of the feelings of success and happiness.
Answer choice (D): The first author mentions that satisfaction rises with rapid increases in pay, but that does not necessarily mean that gradual increases would not increase satisfaction, and there is no reason to think that the second author would agree with this choice either, since it is success, according to the second passage, feelings of which can accompany increases in pay, that truly brings happiness with the sense of having created value.
Answer choice (E): Both authors discuss the study which suggests that relative prosperity is what’s important; the first author points out that as societies have grown wealthier they have not grown happier.