LSAT 142 – Section 1 – Question 12

LSAT 142 - Section 1 - Question 12

December 2014

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Ask a tutor

Target time: 1:14

This is question data from the 7Sage LSAT Scorer. You can score your LSATs, track your results, and analyze your performance with pretty charts and vital statistics - all with a Free Account ← sign up in less than 10 seconds

Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT142 S1 Q12
+LR
Sufficient assumption +SA
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
11%
157
B
3%
157
C
1%
155
D
1%
152
E
83%
165
140
149
157
 +Medium 145.991 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Archaeologists are discovering a great deal about the Sals culture. For example, recent excavations have unearthed smelting furnaces and tools of smelted copper and bronze. There were distinct Sals words for copper and for bronze, but none for iron. Thus, the Sals did not smelt iron.

Summary
The author concludes that the Sals did not smelt iron. This is based on the fact that the Sals did not have any distinct words for iron.

Missing Connection
The premise establishes that Sals didn’t have distinct words for iron. Does that guarantee that the Sals did not smelt iron? No. What does lacking a distinct word for a thing have to do with smelting the thing? To make the argument valid, we want to form a link to get from the premise to the conclusion:
If the Sals didn’t have a distinct word for a thing, then the Sals did not smelt the thing.
Another way to phrase the relationship we’re looking for:
If the Sals smelted the thing, then they had a distinct word for the thing.

A
If a culture had a distinct word for a metal, then it smelted that metal.
(A) can be used to reach a conclusion that a culture DID smelt a metal. But we’re trying to prove that the Sals did NOT smelt a metal. (A) reverses what would have been a correct answer.
B
If a culture was unfamiliar with a metal, then it did not have a distinct word for that metal.
(B) allows us to reach a conclusion that a culture did not have a distinct word for a metal. But we’re trying to prove that a culture did not smelt a metal. (B) doesn’t establish that the Sals didn’t smelt a metal.
C
If a culture smelted copper and bronze, then it had distinct words for copper and bronze.
The conclusion is that the Sals did not smelt iron. (C) concerns only copper and bronze. It doesn’t establish that the Sals did not smelt iron.
D
If a culture did not smelt a metal, then it was unfamiliar with that metal.
We’re trying to prove that the Sals did not smelt metal. (D) tells us what we can conclude IF we start off knowing that a culture not smelt a metal. But (D) doesn’t allow us to reach the conclusion that a culture did not smelt a metal.
E
If a culture smelted a metal, then it had a distinct word for that metal.
We know that the Sals did not have a distinct word for iron. (E) asserts that having a distinct word for a metal was necessary in order for a culture to have smelted that metal. So (E), in connection with the premise, establishes that the Sals did not smelt iron.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 142 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply