Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT133 S1 Q2 Explanation

Jocko, a chimpanzee

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

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Stimulus

Jocko, a chimpanzee, was once given a large bunch of bananas by a zookeeper after the more dominant members of the chimpanzee's troop had wandered off. In his excitement, Jocko uttered some loud "food barks." The other chimpanzees returned and took the bananas away. The next day, Jocko was again found alone silence was a stratagem to keep the other chimpanzees from his food.

What this question is testing

Weaken

Your task

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

Common trap

Answers that look negative but attack a claim the argument never relied on.

Winning move

Find the assumption the argument depends on, then pick the choice that undermines 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
2.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question

Answer choices

  1. Strengthen1% picked this

    Chimpanzees utter food barks only when their favorite foods

    This rules out a possible explanation for Jocko’s behavior since Jocko was given a favorite food on both occasions.

  2. Correct91% picked this

    Chimpanzees utter food barks only when they encounter a sizable quantity

    Why this is right

    This ties Jocko’s silence to the quantity of bananas rather than a strategy learned by Jocko after alerting other chimpanzees to the original bunch of bananas.

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

  3. Out of Scope2% picked this

    Chimpanzees frequently take food from other chimpanzees merely to

    This explains the behavior of other chimpanzees, but not Jocko’s.

  4. Too Weak6% picked this

    Even when they are alone, chimpanzees often make noises that appear to be signals

    This fails to explain why the chimpanzees are making such noises.

  5. Too Weak0% picked this

    Bananas are a food for which all of the chimpanzees at the zoo show

    This may make bananas more important to Jocko, but it doesn’t support the view that Jocko learned to remain quiet in order to keep his banana.

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