Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT10 S4 Q23 Explanation

Throughout European history famines

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsParadox

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Stimulus

Throughout European history famines have generally been followed by periods of rising wages, because when a labor force is diminished, workers are more valuable in accordance with the law of supply and demand. The Irish potato famine of the 1840s is an exception; it resulted in the death or emigration of half in the average wages in Ireland in the following decade.

What this question is testing

Paradox

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
23.

Which one of the following, if true, would LEAST contribute to an explanation of the exception

Answer choices

  1. Trap16% picked this

    Improved medical care reduced the mortality rate among able-bodied adults in the decade following the famine

  2. Trap18% picked this

    Eviction policies of the landowners in Ireland were designed to force emigration of the elderly and infirm, who could not work, and to retain

  3. Trap3% picked this

    Advances in technology increased the efficiency of industry and agriculture, and so allowed maintenance of economic output with

  4. Correct58% picked this

    The birth rate increased during the decade following the famine, and this compensated for much of the loss of population that

    Why this is right

    Answer D is correct.

    Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  5. Trap5% picked this

    England, which had political control of Ireland, legislated artificially low wages to provide English-owned industry and agriculture in

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