Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT141 S4 Q5 Explanation

While biodiversity is indispensable

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

TopicsMain Conclusion

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Stimulus

While biodiversity is indispensable to the survival of life on Earth, biodiversity does not require the survival of every currently existing species. For there to be life on Earth, various ecological niches must be filled by more than one species.

What this question is testing

Main Conclusion

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
5.

Which one of the following statements most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn

Answer choices

  1. Correct78% picked this

    Biodiversity does not require that all existing species continue

    Why this is right

    This matches the 2nd claim in the first sentence, our conclusion. It is the only claim in this paragraph that receives support from another claim. Why should we believe that biodiversity doesn't require all existing species continue to exist? Because, many ecological niches can be filled by more than one species.

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

  2. Premise7% picked this

    There are various ecological niches that must be filled if there is to be

    This matches the 3rd claim of the paragraph (there are 4 total). The main conclusion was the 2nd claim. We know this isn't a conclusion because no support is provided. The author gives us no reason why we should believe that various niches must be filled in order for there to be life on Earth.

  3. Background Fact3% picked this

    The survival of life on Earth depends

    This matches the 1st claim of the paragraph (there are 4 total). The main conclusion was the 2nd claim. We know this isn't a conclusion because no support is provided. The author gives us no reason to think that the survival of life depends upon biodiversity. We can rest assured that a conclusion would never be prefaced with concession/qualification wording like "although / despite / while".

  4. Premise9% picked this

    There are many ecological niches that can be filled by more

    This matches the 4th claim of the paragraph (there are 4 total). The main conclusion was the 2nd claim. We know this isn't a conclusion because no support is provided. The author gives us no reason why we should believe that many niches can be filled by more than one species.

  5. Unstated4% picked this

    The species most indispensable for biodiversity fill more than one

    Nothing like this was said in the paragraph, so it can't be our Main Conclusion. The paragraph never talks about which species are most indispensable.

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