#21 - The town of Greenfield recently instituted a

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be TrueX. The correct answer choice is (D)

Greenfield has passed a supplemental tax on all households that is based on the volume of trash that household puts out for collection, as measured by the number of standard-sized garbage bags. Recyclables can be delivered to a conveniently located recycling center where such trash is collected free of charge.

There is a no conclusion to this Stimulus, so we anticipate a Must-Be-True question. The Question Stem indicates that it is a Must-Be-True EXCEPT question type, meaning the supplemental tax in Greenfield provides a financial incentive to do four of the Answer Choices and does not provide a financial incentive to do one of the answer choices. This one answer choice will be the correct answer.

Answer Choice (A): Because the tax is based on volume of trash set out for collection and because recyclable trash can be disposed of free of charge, there is a financial incentive to do this. Answer Choice (A) should be eliminated.

Answer Choice (B): Because the tax is based on the volume of trash that is set out, there is a financial incentive to minimize this amount of trash. One way to do this is to dump illegally. Answer Choice (B) should be eliminated.

Answer Choice (C): This answer would reduce the volume of the trash, thereby reducing the volume. The reduced volume would reduce the supplemental tax. There is a financial incentive to do Answer Choice (C) so this Answer Choice should be eliminated.

Answer Choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. Tax is based on volume of trash set out for collection, so if any items are sent to the recycling center or given to neighbors, the tax would be no different for the household. There is a financial incentive to recycle items that would have been set out for collection, but there is no financial incentive to recycle items that would be given to neighbors to reuse.

Answer Choice (E): This answer involves buying products with no packaging or with recyclable packaging. These types of products would eliminate the volume of trash set out for collection, either because there is no packaging or because the packaging could be taken to the recycling center. Since there is a financial incentive to reduce the volume of trash set out for collection, Answer Choice (E) should be eliminated.

[Anali]

Hello Powerscore Staff,

First off, I want to say thank you for creating the Powerscore books and for creating this forum to provide a thorough explanation of each LSAT question. The books and explanations have been of tremendous help! My inquiry is regarding Q21 from PT13. This question is number 73 in the LR Type Training book.

The correct answer choice is D. I picked answer choice B for the reason that there could be no way a household could benefit financially from illegally dumping trash at parks and roadsides. However, after reading the explanation from this forum, I can see how a household could benefit from doing this. They would have less trash to put out, and as a result, are taxed less. The tax is a strong motive to commit this unlawful deed.

However, I still have a bone to pick with the correct answer choice - answer choice D. Wouldn't the substantial supplementary tax be an incentive for a household to send recyclables to the recycling center or pass them off to neighbors? These actions would ultimately reduce the volume of trash and make an impact on the tax bill, since the volume of trash is what the tax bill is based on.

Wouldn't answer choice D also make answer choice A correct, then? Answer choice A states that households can "sort out recyclable trash thoroughly". However, answer choice D just goes further in saying that the recyclable trash is delivered to a recycling center.

Also, answer choice D presents new information that is not mentioned or suggested in the stimulus. Neighbors who want to reuse recyclable materials threw me for a loop. I would except this from a most strongly supported question, but this a Must Be True Except question, albeit not a Must Be True question but far from a most strongly supported question stem.

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi Anali,

We're so glad you've found the PowerScore materials and the forum helpful! Thanks for asking a great and very thorough question. It helps us help you when you give us so much detail about what your thoughts are on the question you're tackling!

The supplementary tax would be an incentive for a household to do basically anything with recyclables OTHER than put them out with their trash. So, it would incentivize taking recycling to the center, OR passing along to neighbors, but wouldn't incentivize one over the other. That's why D is the correct answer; the tax wouldn't lead to people taking recyclables to the center INSTEAD of passing them along to a neighbor, since either way they wouldn't incur the tax.

In terms of the new information in D, I understand why that threw you for a loop. Here, though, this information is related to the stimulus enough that you know how to categorize it: giving stuff to neighbors = not putting it out for trash collection. Does that make sense? In the context of the stimulus, you have all the info you need to interpret and process this info.

[ericsilvagomez]

Hi,

For answer choice D, wouldn't the financial incentive be that taking it to the recycling center would reduce the tax because there is a lesser amount in the standard-sized trash bags? I may have misinterpreted the question.

[srusty]

Hi,

For answer choice D, wouldn't the financial incentive be that taking it to the recycling center would reduce the tax because there is a lesser amount in the standard-sized trash bags? I may have misinterpreted the question.

Hi Eric,

In this case, the Greenfield is imposing a tax based on how many bags are put out for pick up. This incentivizes households to divert their trash stream to other avenues to minimize the tax. One way this could be diverted is offered in the stimulus itself - households can reduce their volume of trash by dropping off recyclables to a recycling center.

Our question is asking which answer choice DOES NOT represent an action incentivized by the tax. Answer choice (D) fits the bill: deliver recyclable materials to the recycling center instead of passing them them on to neighbors who want to reuse them.

Answer choice (D) does not represent an incentive based on the tax - households who choose to recycle their recyclables at their center, or hand them off to neighbors, are either way avoiding the tax that comes from putting trash bags out for pick up. The tax does not incentivize one form of recycling over the other.

Hope that helps!