ODDBALL LR

Question

Taken from Get-Prepped-Sample-LSAT 

In 1991, 45% of the company’s budget was spent
on research and development. In the past 10 years,
the company’s commitment to research has only
intensified, as shown by the fact that in 2001, a full
60% of the budget was earmarked for this area.
Accordingly, the claim of the staff in the science
department that the company is spending less today
on research and development than it has in the past
is clearly false.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt
on the argument above?

A) In 2001, the company spent more on marketing
than it did in 1991.
B) Despite a increase in the public’s desire for
better developed products, the company has
focused more of its effort in research than
development.
C) The overall company budget for 2001 is
approximately $10 million less than the overall
company budget was in 1991.
D) The science department staff has previously
made false claims about other company
operations.
E) The company president, due to pressure from
shareholders, has promised to continue to
increase spending on research and
development.

mciatto · Answer

C

While the % is more, the total $ amount is less.

alex_shelukhin · Answer

The answer is C. It is not the best answer, because 10 billion less means nothing, cause we do not know what to compare with. For example, if in 1991 the budget was 100 billions -> spendings on research were 45 billions. In 2001, then the budget was 90 billions -> spendings were 56 billions. Even more and the argument is OK!

But since there is no better answer I choose B.

Curly05 · Answer

Argument: Their Not spending Less
 Fact: They are still spending more than the total in the past!

 A true mind twister but the best choice is they are spending less of their potential.

RK73 · Answer

I'd choose C

AkamaiBrah · Answer

We are not asked to PROVE or DISPROVE the conclusion, but merely cast doubt upon it. C is the only one that supplies a premise that if true may reasonably render the conclusion false. Hence it is my first choice.

stolyar · Answer

C is the answer, but I would fire its author.
We can find a combination in C, which can do the opposite.
Such oddballism is an intellectual crime

AkamaiBrah · Answer

Did you get this from an LSAT review book? If so, then the author would probably get compliments for this question. Unlike those for the GMAT, the author of LSAT questions purposely put "best of the bad" type questions in their logical reasoning tests. The justification is that anybody should be able to find the one good answer among the bad, but it is much, much more difficult to pick out the "kinda good" answer from a bunch of mediocre answers, and even harder to pick a "not so bad" answer from a group of "bad" answers. IN the LSAT, nuance is tested more than pure deduction. Pure logic is tested in the Logic games. Makes for pretty challenging and frustrating questions.

GMATT73 · Answer

Classic percentage logic CR. (C) by a mile.

ps_dahiya · Answer

C is the best though not convincing that much.

ODDBALL LR

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