StrengthenDiff: Hardest
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: People think junk mail is bad for the planet, but it actually helps because it lets you shop from your couch instead of driving your car to the mall.
Conclusion: The perception that direct-mail advertising is environmentally harmful is incorrect.
Reasoning: Buying products via mail, phone, or online replaces the need to drive a car to a store, which reduces air pollution.
Analysis: The argument assumes that the pollution saved by not driving is greater than the environmental cost of the mail itself, such as paper waste and delivery truck emissions. To strengthen this, we should look for an answer that confirms this trade-off is favorable. For instance, if the pollution from one delivery truck is significantly less than the combined pollution of the many individual car trips it replaces, the argument's defense of direct mail becomes much more convincing.
Conclusion: The perception that direct-mail advertising is environmentally harmful is incorrect.
Reasoning: Buying products via mail, phone, or online replaces the need to drive a car to a store, which reduces air pollution.
Analysis: The argument assumes that the pollution saved by not driving is greater than the environmental cost of the mail itself, such as paper waste and delivery truck emissions. To strengthen this, we should look for an answer that confirms this trade-off is favorable. For instance, if the pollution from one delivery truck is significantly less than the combined pollution of the many individual car trips it replaces, the argument's defense of direct mail becomes much more convincing.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage25.Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
Correct Answer
B
By stating that most products purchased in response to direct-mail would be purchased even without the ads, B supports the idea that direct mail changes how people buy (from driving to ordering at home) rather than creating extra purchases. Combined with the stimulus’s claim that those purchases would otherwise require car use, this strengthens the argument that direct mail reduces car trips and thus is not environmentally harmful.
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