Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT139 S1 Q21 Explanation

Essayist: Winners of a Nobel

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

TopicsMust be True

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Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

Essayist: Winners of a Nobel prize for science, who are typically professional scientists, have all made significant contributions to science. But amateur scientists have also provided many significant contributions. And unlike professional scientists, who are often motivated by economic necessity are motivated by the love of discovery alone.

What this question is testing

Must be True

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
21.

If the essayist's statements are true, then which one of the following must

Answer choices

  1. Unsupported Relationship37% picked this

    Some amateur scientists who did not win a Nobel prize for science nevertheless made significant

    While it can be inferred that some amateur scientists made significant contributions to science, it is not stated that these amateur scientists did not win a Nobel prize.

  2. Unsupported Relationship11% picked this

    Typically, winners of a Nobel prize for science are not motivated at all by the

    While professional scientists often have other motivations, this does not prevent them from being motivated by the love of discovery.

  3. Correct48% picked this

    The love of discovery is the motive behind many significant contributions

    Why this is right

    This can be inferred AS ?some? SC from the second and AS ? LD third statements. ? SC ?some? LD

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

  4. Unsupported Comparison2% picked this

    Professional scientists have made a greater overall contribution to science than

    The statements do not indicate the overall contribution to science of both types of scientist.

  5. Out of Scope1% picked this

    A professional scientist is more likely to make a significant contribution to science if he or she is motivated

    The likelihood that any one scientist will make a significant contribution to science is not discussed in the statements.

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