Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT140 S1 Q11 Explanation

Although large cities are generally (copy)

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

TopicsRole

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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

Although large cities are generally more polluted than the countryside, increasing urbanization may actually reduce the total amount of pollution generated nationwide. Residents of large cities usually rely more on mass transportation and live in smaller, more energy-efficient dwellings than do people in rural areas. Thus, a given number a large city than if dispersed among many small towns.

What this question is testing

Role

Argument

The author opens with the claim that urbanization might cut nationwide pollution. Then everything that follows is evidence — city people use mass transit, live in smaller dwellings — and the final "Thus..." restates that opening claim in different words. So that opening line is the conclusion.

Method

It's a classic LSAT trick: putting the conclusion early in the stimulus and burying the supporting evidence after it. Indicator words like "Thus" at the end signal that the closing line is the conclusion or a restatement of it.

Goal

An answer that identifies the urbanization-reduces-pollution claim as the main conclusion.

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

The question
11.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the argument by the claim that increasing urbanization may actually reduce the total

Answer choices

  1. Bad Conclusion Match10% picked this

    It is used to support the conclusion that people should live

    The argument doesn't conclude that people should live in large cities — it just argues urbanization may reduce pollution. There's no normative recommendation. The claim is descriptive, not prescriptive.

  2. Bad Description12% picked this

    It is a statement offered to call into question the claim that large cities are generally more

    The claim isn't introduced to call into question the city-vs-countryside pollution claim. The author actually concedes that cities are more polluted (that's the "although" framing). The urbanization claim is offered despite that, not against it.

  3. Background3% picked this

    It is a statement serving merely to introduce the topic to be addressed in the argument and

    The claim plays a major logical role — it's the conclusion of the argument. The "Thus..." at the end restates it. It's not a topic-introducer with no logical role.

  4. Premise3% picked this

    It is a premise offered in support of the conclusion that large cities are generally more

    The claim is the conclusion, not a premise. And it's certainly not a premise against itself — the answer says it supports "large cities are generally more polluted than the countryside," which is actually the concession setting up the argument. The claim in question is the main point.

  5. Correct71% picked this

    It is a claim that the rest of the argument is

    Why this is right

    This is the role exactly. The opening claim ("urbanization may reduce nationwide pollution") is what the rest of the argument is designed to establish. The mass-transit and small-dwelling premises support it, and the "Thus..." final sentence restates it. It's the main conclusion.

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

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