LSAT 138 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q15

LR Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Anyone who knows Ellsworth knows that he is bursting…

QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption

CONCLUSION: People who know Ellsworth will not be surprised that he’s offended by accusations that he has been unethical.

REASONING: Ellsworth is self-righteous and says his generation is less greedy.

ANALYSIS: The conclusion is that no one who knows Ellsworth will be surprised.

The evidence is that Ellsworth is self-righteous, and has been accused of wrongdoing.

You need to join the two. Answer choice E does this. You get:

Self righteous ➞ Easily Offended

So if you know Ellsworth is self-righteous, then you won’t be surprised that he’s easily offended as well. It’s a necessary condition.

The other answers are irrelevant nonsense designed to sound relevant.

___________

1. This doesn’t help. If Ellsworth’s friends though he was unethical, then they might be surprised that he took offense at the (true) accusations.
2. Was Ellsworth offended by the previous accusations as well? This doesn’t help show that no one was surprised.
3. This might mean that Ellsworth is a hypocrite, but it doesn’t explain why no one is surprised that he is offended.
4. Just because someone is innocent doesn’t mean they will get offended.
5. CORRECT. Everyone knows that Ellsworth is self-righteous. This tells us that everyone would therefore expect him to be easily offended.