LSAT Explanation PT 40, S1, Q22: All highly successful salespersons are both

LSAT Question Stem

If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Must Be True question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is C. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first analyze the passage before discussing the answer choices. The passage provides us with the following information:

1. Highly successful salespersons have two characteristics: they are well organized and self-motivated.

2. These characteristics are absent from many salespersons who are not highly successful.

3. Only highly successful salespersons are well known among their peers.

4. No salespersons who are self-motivated regret their career choices.

To simplify this information, let's assign some abbreviations:

- HS: Highly successful salespersons

- WO: Well organized

- SM: Self-motivated

- WKAP: Well known among peers

- RCC: Regret career choices

Now, we can rewrite the information as follows:

1. HS -> WO + SM

2. ~HS -> (~WO and/or ~SM) for many salespersons

3. WKAP -> HS

4. SM -> ~RCC

The question type is a Must Be True (MBT) question, asking us to find the statement that must be true based on the given information.

Now, let's evaluate each answer choice:

a) No self-motivated salespersons who are not highly successful are well organized.

This answer choice suggests that if a salesperson is self-motivated but not highly successful, they must not be well organized. However, we cannot infer this from the given information. We only know that many unsuccessful salespersons lack one or both characteristics, not all of them. So, this answer choice is incorrect.

b) All salespersons who are well organized but not highly successful are self-motivated.

This answer choice implies that well-organized salespersons who are not highly successful must be self-motivated. However, we cannot infer this from the given information. We only know that many unsuccessful salespersons lack one or both characteristics, not all of them. So, this answer choice is incorrect.

c) No salespersons who are well known among their peers regret their career choices.

This answer choice can be inferred from the given information. If a salesperson is well known among their peers, they are highly successful (WKAP -> HS). If they are highly successful, they are well organized and self-motivated (HS -> WO + SM). If they are self-motivated, they do not regret their career choices (SM -> ~RCC). Therefore, this answer choice is correct.

d) All salespersons who are not well organized regret their career choices.

This answer choice suggests that all salespersons who are not well organized must regret their career choices. However, we cannot infer this from the given information. We only know that self-motivated salespersons do not regret their career choices, but we do not have enough information about the feelings of those who are not well organized. So, this answer choice is incorrect.

e) All salespersons who do not regret their career choices are highly successful.

This answer choice implies that if a salesperson does not regret their career choices, they must be highly successful. However, we cannot infer this from the given information. We only know that self-motivated salespersons do not regret their career choices, but we do not have enough information to say that all of them are highly successful. So, this answer choice is incorrect.

Based on our analysis, the correct answer is C.