November 2019 LSAT Section 2 Question 4

Although smaller class sizes are popular with parents and teachers, the evidence shows that large scale reductions in...

RachP on April 24, 2022

A vs B

Could someone explain to me why A would not be the correct answer? I was stuck between the two, but from my understanding this is a type of question where you negate the answer choice, and if the negated version holds the argument to be untrue, it is the correct answer. Is this not what answer choice A does?

Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

Emil-Kunkin on April 27, 2022

Hi RachP,

This is indeed the type (strengthen with necessary) where we negate the answer choices and the negation which destroys the argument is correct.

We could negate A by saying that "reducing class sizes is not extremely expensive." This could mean that this is a cheap method, or that it is somewhat expensive, or even that it is very expensive, just not extremely so. Even if cutting class sizes is not extremely expensive, the argument could still hold. Perhaps this method is only moderately expensive, but there are still other, cheaper options (like recruiting and retaining better teachers) that would have the same or more impact on learning.

We could negate B by saying that "dollar for dollar, recruiting and retaining teachers will not be better than cutting class size. This negation directly undermines the argument that we should retain teachers instead of cutting class sizes.