The number of automobile thefts has declined steadily during the past

Question

The number of automobile thefts has declined steadily during the past five years, and it is more likely now than it was five years ago that someone who steals a car will be convicted of the crime.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the facts cited above?

(A) Although there are fewer car thieves now than there were five years ago, the proportion of thieves who tend to abandon cars before their owners notice that they have been stolen has also decreased.

(B) Car alarms are more common than they were five years ago, but their propensity to be triggered in the absence of any criminal activity has resulted in people generally ignoring them when they are triggered.

(C) An upsurge in home burglaries over the last five years has required police departments to divert limited resources to investigation of these cases.

(D) Because of the increasingly lucrative market for stolen automobile parts, many stolen cars are quickly disassembled and the parts are sold to various buyers across the country.

(E) There are more adolescent car thieves now than there were five years ago, and the sentences given to young criminals tend to be far more lenient than those given to adult criminals.

LSAT

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

Let's break down our passage:
Fact 1: the number of thefts has declined steadily (over past 5 years)
Fact 2: it is more likely that a theft today will end in a conviction (as opposed to 5 yrs ago)

As we don't have sufficient information to infer a possible explanation, we'll look to our answers.
(A) Although there are fewer car thieves now than there were five years ago, the proportion of thieves who tend to abandon cars before their owners notice that they have been stolen has also decreased.  This is a bit flimsy but could work - less thieves means less theft; thieves sticking with the car longer might result in more conviction due to a better police response. Let's check the other options.

(B) Car alarms are more common than they were five years ago, but their propensity to be triggered in the absence of any criminal activity has resulted in people generally ignoring them when they are triggered.  If people ignore car alarms, there is no reason to expect either Fact 1 or Fact 2 to occur. No.

(C) An upsurge in home burglaries over the last five years has required police departments to divert limited resources to investigation of these cases.  This makes Fact 1 and 2 less likely, not more likely. No.

(D) Because of the increasingly lucrative market for stolen automobile parts, many stolen cars are quickly disassembled and the parts are sold to various buyers across the country.  Similarly to (C) this is the opposite of what we need. No.

(E) There are more adolescent car thieves now than there were five years ago, and the sentences given to young criminals tend to be far more lenient than those given to adult criminals.  This could help explain Fact 2 as adolescent thieves might be less careful and are more easily convicted, but does not relate to Fact 1. No.

(A) is the only possible option and is therefore our answer.

NIKHILS9 · Answer

If the proportion of thieves who abandon cars before their owners notice that they have been stolen has decreased, it means that those who still retain it has increased due to which the Police would be able to catch the thieves along with property(Car) and thus the thieves would be convicted.
Earlier since the cars would more likely be abandoned/dismantled, the police could not easily convict the thief due to lack of proof.

Mahmud6 · Answer

Let, five years ago the number of thieves was 100 and if the proportion of thieves who tend to abandon cars before their owners notice was 40%, the likelihood of conviction of crime was 60%.

Now again let, the number of thieves is decreased to 10 and if the proportion of thieves who tend to abandon cars before their owners notice is decreased to 20%, the likelihood of conviction of crime would be 80%, a percentage more than that of five years ago.

So, correct answer would be A.

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dave13 · Answer

The number of automobile thefts has declined steadily during the past five years, and it is more likely now than it was five years ago that someone who steals a car will be convicted of the crime. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the facts cited above? (A) Although there are fewer car thieves now than there were five years ago, the proportion of thieves who tend to abandon cars before their owners notice that they have been stolen has also decreased. ( CORRECT, very logical. that means that more and more thiefs tend dont abandon the car during the theft despite the fact that owner of the car notices a thief) becoming a thief got a tough job

(B) Car alarms are more common than they were five years ago, but their propensity to be triggered in the absence of any criminal activity has resulted in people generally ignoring them when they are triggered. this doesnt help to explain the citied facts. so what that alarm is triggered when theft is not happening, to the contrary, if such things happen then number of there is less probabilty that thiefs are caught (C) An upsurge in home burglaries over the last five years has required police departments to divert limited resources to investigation of these cases. (out of scope) (D) Because of the increasingly lucrative market for stolen automobile parts, many stolen cars are quickly disassembled and the parts are sold to various buyers across the country. ( doesnt explain, unless each part of stolen automobile had a distinct code that was tracked from space shuttle

) (E) There are more adolescent car thieves now than there were five years ago, and the sentences given to young criminals tend to be far more lenient than those given to adult criminals. (out of scope)

innochandan · Answer

POE
B-weakener
C- out of scope
D- Wekaener
E- Wekaener

A- correct answer

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unraveled · Answer

The number of automobile thefts has declined steadily during the past five years, and it is more likely now than it was five years ago that someone who steals a car will be convicted of the crime.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the facts cited above?

(A) Although there are fewer car thieves now than there were five years ago, the  proportion of thieves  who tend to abandon cars before their owners notice that they have been stolen  has also decreased . - CORRECT. More number of thieves found with stolen cars more the conviction, or lesser they are less the conviction.

(B) Car alarms are more common than they were five years ago, but their propensity to be triggered in the absence of any criminal activity has resulted in  people generally ignoring them when they are triggered . - WRONG. Irrelevant. Nothing happens to the passage as it remains as it is.

(C) An upsurge in home burglaries over the last five years has required police departments to  divert limited resources to investigation of these cases . - WRONG. Like B this is not doing anythign to the passage.

(D) Because of the increasingly lucrative market for stolen automobile parts, many stolen cars are quickly disassembled and the parts are sold to various buyers across the country. - WRONG. Irrelevant.

(E) There are  more adolescent car thieves now than there were five years ago , and the sentences given to  young criminals tend to be far more lenient than  those given to adult criminals. - WORNG. Second best for me. But the problem is with new element bring forth in this that does nothing to the passage.

Answer A.

The number of automobile thefts has declined steadily during the past

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The number of automobile thefts has declined steadily during the past

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