Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT143 S1 Q16 Explanation

It is possible to grow agricultural crops

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

TopicsRole

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Stimulus

It is possible to grow agricultural crops that can thrive when irrigated with seawater. Such farming, if undertaken near oceans, would actually be cheaper than most other irrigated agriculture, since the water would not have to be pumped far. The greatest expense in irrigated agriculture costs increase with the distance the water is pumped.

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
16.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the argument by the claim that the greatest expense in irrigated agriculture

Answer choices

  1. Opposite0% picked this

    It is a claim that the argument shows to

    We're looking for "a claim the author uses to Support her conclusion", not a claim that the author tries to disprove.

  2. Opposite1% picked this

    It is a hypothesis that, if proven, would undermine the

    We're looking for "a claim the author uses to Support her conclusion", not a claim that would undermine the conclusion.

  3. Correct86% picked this

    It is evidence provided to support the

    Why this is right

    We were looking for "a claim the author uses to Support her conclusion", and this correctly identifies this claim as a Premise (i.e. evidence / support).

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

  4. Wrong Role1% picked this

    It is the argument's

    The conclusion is the 2nd claim in the paragraph. We can tell that our claim is not the conclusion because it fails the support test: why should we believe that "the greatest expense in irrigated agriculture is in pumping the water"? The argument doesn't provide any justification for that claim, so that claim can't be a conclusion.

  5. Wrong Role11% picked this

    It is a claim for which the argument provides evidence, but which is not

    This answer describes something like an Intermediate Conclusion (it's supported by a premise, but it supports the Main Conclusion). But we can tell that our claim is not backed up by any evidence because it fails the Support Test: why should we believe that "the greatest expense in irrigated agriculture is in pumping the water"? The argument doesn't provide any evidence for that claim.

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