LSAT Explanation PT 44, S4, Q20: Advertisement: Each of the Economic Merit

LSAT Question Stem

The advertisement's argumentation is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Flaw question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is D. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first analyze the argument in the passage. The advertisement claims that since each of the Economic Merit Prize winners from the past 25 years is covered by the Acme retirement plan, they must recognize that the plan offers them a financially secure future. Therefore, the advertisement concludes that the Acme plan is probably a good choice for anyone with retirement needs similar to the prize winners. The structure of the argument is as follows:

Premise: Each of the Economic Merit Prize winners from the past 25 years is covered by the Acme retirement plan.

Conclusion: The Acme retirement plan is probably a good choice for anyone with retirement needs similar to the prize winners.

To make this more relatable, let's use a simple example. Imagine a group of top chefs all using a specific brand of knives. The advertisement claims that since these top chefs use these knives, they must be good for anyone with similar cooking needs.

Now, let's come up with an "Evaluate" question for this argument: "Did the Economic Merit Prize winners choose the Acme retirement plan themselves or was it chosen for them by their employers?"

The question type for this problem is a Flaw question, asking us to identify the vulnerability in the advertisement's argumentation.

Now let's go through each answer choice:

a) This answer choice is incorrect because the passage specifically states that each of the winners from the past 25 years is covered by the Acme plan. The argument does not concern winners who used other retirement plans.

b) The advertisement argues that the Acme retirement plan is a good plan, not that it is the only good plan. Therefore, this answer choice misinterprets the argument and is incorrect.

c) This answer choice is incorrect because the prize winners are not explicitly said to endorse the argument's main conclusion. Rather, the advertisement uses their coverage under the Acme plan as evidence.

d) This is the correct answer choice. If the prize winners did not select the Acme retirement plan themselves, the conclusion that they believe the plan is good does not necessarily follow from the argument. The passage does not address who selected the plan, and this represents a flaw in the argument.

e) This answer choice is incorrect because the advertisement targets those with "similar" needs, not those with "identical" needs. The argument does not presume that each of the prize winners has retirement plan needs that are identical to the advertisement's intended audience's retirement plan needs.