#18 - Certain changes in North American residential

[lsatstudent2]

The stimulus basically says that houses with thin walls started selling well due to the demand for air-conditioning. So, answer C attacks truth of the thin walls selling not selling well after rather than the reasoning used in the argument?

[lsatstudent2]

1) Houses with thick walls are better for heat
2) Thin walled house started selling AFTER world war
3) There was a demand for air-conditioning

Thus, the change AFTER the war was due to the demand for air-conditioning.

How is answer C correct? What happened at other times is not relevant to the time in question? Maybe when there wasn't a demand for air-conditioning something else caused the demand for houses with thin walls?

[Robert Carroll]

lsatstudent2,

But that's exactly the point - as you say, "Maybe when there wasn't a demand for air-conditioning something else caused the demand for houses with thin walls?" So...since something else can cause a demand for these types of houses besides air conditioning, what need is there whatsoever to invoke air conditioning as a cause of demand for them? Something else has factually already caused the demand, answer choice (C) implies, so no other cause is needed. The author's preferred cause, AC, is another cause, and therefore is weakened by the already-adequate cause mentioned by answer choice (C). Whatever factor was causing the demand earlier may still be present. It is possible that AC is also here as the cause of demand, but it's less likely than before answer choice (C). That weakens the argument, so that's correct.

Robert CArroll