Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT159 S3 Q5 ExplanationResearcher: Some scholars maintain that the first government

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

TopicsSufficient Assumption

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Stimulus

Researcher: Some scholars maintain that the first government other than China to issue any form of paper currency was the Massachusetts colony in 1690. But these scholars are incorrect. During a coin shortage in New France in 1685, its government was unable to use coins to pay soldiers stationed in Quebec. Instead, goods, were convertible to coins, which later arrived on supply ships from France.

What this question is testing

Sufficient Assumption

Conclusion

The researcher argues the scholars are wrong about Massachusetts being the first non-Chinese government to issue paper currency in 1690.

Evidence

In 1685, New France hit a coin shortage and started paying soldiers with playing cards that had assigned values and were convertible to coin. So New France did this five years earlier.

Evaluate

Watch the gap. The scholars' claim is specifically about paper currency. The researcher's evidence is about playing cards. For the researcher to refute them, the playing cards have to count as paper currency — and that requires the cards to actually be made of paper.

If the playing cards in 1685 New France were made of, say, leather, ivory, or wood (some early playing cards were), then they're currency but not paper currency, and the scholars' specific claim survives.

Goal

Find the assumption that the playing cards were paper. With that, the New France case is paper currency, and the researcher's conclusion follows.

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The question
5.

The researcher's conclusion is properly drawn if which one of the following

Answer choices, explained

  1. Correct84% picked this

    The playing cards in use in Quebec in the late 1600s were

    Why this is right

    This is the bridge from "playing cards" to "paper currency." The researcher needs the New France case to qualify as paper currency in order to undercut the scholars' specific claim. If the playing cards in late-1600s Quebec were made of paper, then assigning them official value and issuing them as pay constitutes issuing paper currency. With this assumption, the conclusion goes through: New France issued paper currency in 1685, before Massachusetts in 1690, so the scholars are wrong.

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

  2. Out of Scope3% picked this

    The Chinese government did not issue paper currency during

    The scholars' claim is about the first government other than China to issue paper currency. Whether China issued paper currency in the 1600s is irrelevant to whether New France or Massachusetts came first among non-Chinese governments. The argument doesn't need this assumption.

  3. Out of Scope3% picked this

    Playing cards were not available to inhabitants of the Massachusetts colony

    Whether playing cards were available in Massachusetts before 1690 is irrelevant. The argument doesn't need to claim anything about Massachusetts's pre-1690 currency situation. It only needs the New France case to count as paper currency. Massachusetts's playing-card history is beside the point.

  4. Out of Scope4% picked this

    The Massachusetts colony's issue of paper currency was not prompted by

    Massachusetts's reason for issuing paper currency (whether or not a coin shortage prompted it) doesn't affect whether New France issued paper currency earlier. The argument doesn't need to draw any contrast based on motives.

  5. Out of Scope6% picked this

    Every government that issued paper currency in the 1600s left records pertaining

    Whether other 1600s governments left records about their currency is irrelevant. The argument is between two specific cases (New France 1685 and Massachusetts 1690). Universal record-keeping isn't needed; we just need the New France case to count.

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