Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT15 S2 Q22 Explanation

A scientist made three observations:

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

TopicsEvaluate

Keep going in LSAT Lab

  • Save & drill this skill build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

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

A scientist made three observations: (1) in the world’s temperate zones, food is more plentiful in the ocean than it is in fresh water; (2) migratory fish in temperate zones generally mature in the ocean and spawn in fresh water; and (3) migratory fish need much nourishment as they mature but little that in the tropics migratory fish generally mature in fresh water and spawn in the ocean.

What this question is testing

Evaluate

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
22.

Which one of the following would it be most helpful to know in order to judge whether what the scientist subsequently learned calls

Answer choices

  1. Trap1% picked this

    whether in the world’s temperate zones, the temperatures of bodies of fresh water tend to be lower than those of the regions of

  2. Trap10% picked this

    whether the types of foods that migratory fish eat while they inhabit the ocean are similar to those that they eat while

  3. Trap4% picked this

    whether any species of fish with populations in temperate zones also have populations that live

  4. Trap2% picked this

    whether there are more species of migratory fish in the tropics than there are

  5. Correct83% picked this

    whether in the tropics food is less plentiful in the ocean than

    Why this is right

    Answer E is correct.

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

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free