LSAT 139 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Historian: The early Egyptian pharaohs spent as much…

QUESTION TYPE: Role in Argument

CONCLUSION: Building ceremonial architecture wasn’t frivolous.

REASONING: Impressive architecture let ancient Egyptian Pharaohs spend less on the military.

ANALYSIS: This is a reasonable argument. The claim that the ceremonial architecture was not frivolous is the conclusion.

Notice the word ‘however’. That indicates the author’s opinion, which is usually the conclusion.

The word ‘for’ usually indicates that the previous words were the conclusion, and the words that follow are evidence.

___________

1. CORRECT. The appeal to the psychological effects comes after the word ‘for’.
2. There’s no support for this claim. It’s just a fact we’re supposed to accept as true.
3. It’s the other way around. Saying that the pyramids were not frivolous is a judgment, which needs to be justified. The justification is that military force was not required.
4. The argument never made this claim. Pharoah’s authority ultimately depended on force. People realized that he had the force to control the natural world, so they didn’t even try to rebel.
5. The architecture had more than military utility. It also had ceremonial utility.Religious ceremony was an important part of ancient egyptian life. I’m mentioning that only to emphasize that you can’t just discard something like ceremonial utility.