Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT157 S3 Q8 ExplanationAnthropologist: For early humans who

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

Anthropologist: For early humans who moved from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture, the transition must have been traumatic. There would have been increased incidence of disease and injury and a more homogeneous diet lacking vital nutrients more easily obtainable from the richly varied diet of hunter-gatherers. Thus, groups that made the transition opportunities for the accumulation of wealth by those with specialized social roles.

What this question is testing

Role

Conclusion

Early humans must have had a compelling reason to switch to farming — the anthropologist suggests the lure of settled-life perks like wealth.

Evidence

Farming life was objectively worse: more disease, injuries, boring diet. The fact that groups switched despite suffering implies something good was pulling them.

Evaluate

The "traumatic" claim is the logical middle child — supported by evidence below it, supporting the conclusion above it.

Goal

Expect the answer to describe it as a claim supported by evidence that also supports the 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
8.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the anthropologist’s overall argument by the statement that for early humans who moved from a hunter-gatherer

Answer choices, explained

  1. Correct80% picked this

    It is a premise for which another premise is offered

    Why this is right

    The quoted statement supports the main conclusion and is itself supported by another premise (disease, injury, diet evidence). The LSAT's description — "a premise for which another premise is offered as support" — accurately captures both relationships. While we might call this an "intermediate conclusion," calling it a "premise" is not technically wrong since it does support the main conclusion.

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

  2. Background3% picked this

    It is background information that plays no logical role in

    The statement plays a direct logical role — it supports the main conclusion and is supported by evidence. Background information would be a neutral fact that sets the scene without participating in the argument's logic.

  3. Premise2% picked this

    It is a premise for which no support

    This claims no support is offered for the quoted statement. But the second sentence — increased disease, injury, and a less nutritious diet — directly supports the claim that the transition was traumatic. Support is clearly offered.

  4. Conclusion14% picked this

    It is the conclusion of the argument as

    The main conclusion is the final sentence, introduced by "thus." The quoted statement supports this conclusion but is not the conclusion itself.

  5. Opposing Idea2% picked this

    It is a claim that the rest of the argument seeks

    The argument supports and builds upon the "traumatic" claim rather than seeking to rebut it. An opposing viewpoint would be contested by the argument, but this statement is firmly integrated into the argument's reasoning.

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