LSAT 118 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q3

LR Question 3 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Nylon industry spokesperson: Even though cotton …

QUESTION TYPE: Principle – Justify

CONCLUSION: Nylon is natural.

REASONING: Its main components, nitrogen and petroleum, come from natural sources.

ANALYSIS: Bread comes from wheat. Plastic components can originate in natural materials. Medicine can be derived from plants.

Does that automatically make the end product “natural”? Not really.

Unless you have a principle telling you that if something’s main components come from natural sources, then the thing itself is natural.

Because just saying “its ingredients came from natural places” does not automatically mean the final product is natural unless you accept that rule.

Nylon’s main components are:

• nitrogen -> from the atmosphere -> natural
• petroleum -> from oil -> from ancient plants -> natural

So, since its main components are natural, then nylon itself is natural if we accept the principle stated above.

___________

1. The argument says nothing about function. Cotton and nylon being used for similar purposes is just framing, not the reasoning basis.
2. It’s solely focused on the origins of the components, not the manufacturing process. This would probably contradict the argument.
3. There’s no comparative claim about how natural things have to be. It’s either natural or not.
4. Again, no comparative claim here. The argument is not trying to prove nylon is more natural than cotton. Just that nylon is natural.
5. CORRECT. See above. Since petroleum and nitrogen are natural, and those are nylon’s main components, nylon is natural too.