Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT142 S2 Q17 Explanation

Herbalist: While standard antibiotics

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

TopicsRole

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Stimulus

Herbalist: While standard antibiotics typically have just one active ingredient, herbal antibacterial remedies typically contain several. Thus, such herbal remedies are more likely to retain their effectiveness against new, resistant strains of bacteria than are standard antibiotics. For a strain of bacteria, the difficulty of developing resistance to an herbal antibacterial remedy far more difficult than preparing one meal that will please a single guest.

What this question is testing

Role

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
17.

In the analogy drawn in the argument above, which one of the following corresponds to

Answer choices

  1. Correct76% picked this

    a single

    Why this is right

    Only one "problem to solve" with a standard antibiotic or a single guest, when it comes to figuring out resistance or figuring out a meal that will please.

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

  2. Herbal Antibacterial Remedy4% picked this

    several dozen

    Because the herbal kind has many active ingredients, it lined up with many different eaters.

  3. Out Of Scope: "pleasure"11% picked this

    the pleasure experienced by a single

    If it had asked, "what would match up with resisting a standard antibiotic", we could say "pleasing a single eater". But they asked us to match the antibiotic itself.

  4. Matches Bacteria8% picked this

    a

    The cook and the bacteria strain are both trying to solve a problem (how to resist this antibacterial ... how to please so many different eaters)

  5. Out Of Scope: "ingredients"3% picked this

    the ingredients available to a

    We never discuss what goes into the standard or herbal antibiotic. "Ingredients" would be involved whether the cook is trying to please several dozen guests or just one, so this has no special connection to Standard antibiotic, as opposed to the herbal one.

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