Q11 - The average cost of groceries

[Celeste757]

Hello,

I got this one down to C and D... picked D. I can see with D that the arrow is going backwards, ie in the stimulus it is saying that since the overall parent classification will be up, that meets subcomponents will be up too... and that D is saying that the subcomponent up means the overall product will be up (sugar and ice cream), which is going the wrong way. BUT what bothered me with C is that it is talking about something in the past... not something coming in the future that we are expecting. is that just not important here, the future expectation (D) in line with the future expectation of the stimulus, vs the past observance of C?

thank you!

[theaether]

This is a frequent flaw type that the LSAT employs: Group vs. individual. We're not really worried about the time frame here as much as that group/individual problem. Average cost of groceries rising surely doesn't require that costs of butter and eggs can be expected to rise. Maybe everything stayed the same but milk increased by 100x, therefore increasing the average cost of groceries.

(C) nails this flaw type perfectly. Average time by under 20 people (a group) has increased therefore fourth graders (an individual of that group) have spent more time watching TV. Same problem here. Maybe everyone's watching the same amount of TV except 18 year olds, who are watching 100x more TV now because of some new show targeted towards that age group. Fourth graders could still be watching the same amount or less, doesn't matter.

[inesa909]

Dear Manhattan LSAT,
it appears that you have the incorrect answer in the 10 Real LSATs Grouped by Question Type for this question (pg. 474). I was really confused about how A could be the correct answer when it seemed obvious that it was C. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up because the explanation in the book gives the "reasoning" on why A is correct.

[christine.defenbaugh]

Thank you for the alert, inesa909!

We have listed this error, along with the correct answer and explanation, on the Errata Page for the 4th Edition Practice Book I: 10 Real LSATs Grouped by Type.

Please refer to this explanation instead!