Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT119 S4 Q6 Explanation

Skeletal remains of early humans

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

TopicsStrengthen

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Stimulus

Skeletal remains of early humans indicate clearly that our ancestors had fewer dental problems than we have. So, most likely, the diet very different from ours.

What this question is testing

Strengthen

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion more likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that are consistent with the argument but add no real support, or that strengthen a claim the argument doesn't make.

Winning move

Locate the gap between evidence and conclusion, then pick the choice that closes it.

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

The question
6.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens

Answer choices

  1. Unclear Impact8% picked this

    A healthy diet leads to healthy

    It's hard to know whether this strengthens or weakens the plausibility of the author's explanation, because we don't know whether early humans had a healthier diet than modern humans do. The author is only saying it's "different", not that it's necessarily better or healthier.

  2. No Impact0% picked this

    Skeletal remains indicate that some early humans had a significant number

    On the face of this, it feels more like a weakener because it's talking about early humans having dental problems. In reality, it doesn't weaken because the evidence was just saying "on average" early humans had fewer dental problems. It's not saying that early humans never had cavities. But either way, this definitely doesn't strengthen.

  3. Mixed Impact4% picked this

    The diet of early humans was at least as varied as

    This answer could potentially weaken because it's making the diet of early humans seem more comparable to that of modern humans: "their diet was at least as varied as ours" If we knew that their diet was WAY more varied than ours, then that would strengthen the idea that their diet was different from ours. But this just says it was "at least as varied" as ours, so they could be tied with ours, and thus comparable, which would go against the conclusion.

  4. Weakens4% picked this

    Early humans had a shorter average life span than we do, and the most serious dental problems now tend

    This weakens by suggesting an Alternate Explanation for why early humans had fewer dental problems: they didn't live long enough to develop dental problems, which typically show up late in life.

  5. Correct83% picked this

    Diet is by far the most significant factor contributing to

    Why this is right

    This strengthens the plausibility of the author's explanation that since there was a difference in dental problems between early humans and modern humans, there must be a different in diet. After all, the #1 most significant factor that affects whether you have dental problems is diet.

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

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