Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT8 S4 Q6 Explanation

Derek: We must exploit available

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

TopicsAgree/Disagree

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

Derek: We must exploit available resources in developing effective anticancer drugs such as the one made from mature Pacific yew trees. Although the yew population might be threatened, the trees should be harvested now, since an anticancer chemical could take years to develop.

Lola: Not only are mature yews very rare, but most are located in areas where logging is prohibited to protect the habitat of the endangered spotted owl. Despite our eagerness to take advantage or a new medical breakthrough, we should wait for a synthetic drug rather than threaten owl, which could have far-reaching consequences for an entire ecosystem.

What this question is testing

Agree/Disagree

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
6.

Which one of the following is the main point at issue between

Answer choices

  1. Trap4% picked this

    whether the harvesting of available Pacific yews would have far-reaching

  2. Trap6% picked this

    whether the drugs that are effective against potentially deadly diseases should be based on synthetic rather

  3. Correct84% picked this

    whether it is justifiable to wait until a synthetic drug can be developed when the capacity for producing

    Why this is right

    Answer C is correct.

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

  4. Trap1% picked this

    the extent of the environmental disaster that would result if both the Pacific yew and the spotted owl

  5. Trap5% picked this

    whether environmental considerations should ever have any weight when human lives

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