LSAT 159 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q5

LR Question 5 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Researcher: Some scholars maintain that the first government …

QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption

CONCLUSION: The scholars who claim Massachusetts was the first government after China to issue paper currency are incorrect.

REASONING: An earlier example exists: in 1685, France used playing cards with monetary value to pay soldiers in Quebec.

ANALYSIS: We know the playing cards were currency but we don’t know what they were made of. What if they were made of leather, for example? The argument is about paper currency, not currency overall. For it to work, the researcher must assume that the playing cards qualify as a form of paper currency.

Without that, the example from New France wouldn’t count and the scholars could still be correct.

Note: This appears to be a question where the answer is both sufficient and necessary.

___________

1. CORRECT. This connects the example explicitly to paper currency. If the playing cards weren’t made of paper, they wouldn’t count as a form of paper currency. This makes the conclusion valid.
2. So? All we know is that China was first. We’re concerned with whether Quebec’s example shows Massachusetts wasn’t first after China.
3. Whether Massachusetts had playing cards doesn’t matter. The currency can be any form of paper.
4. The researcher never claims that reason (coin shortage) determines who was first. It’s about which came earlier, not why each issued paper currency.
5. This goes too far. We don’t need to assume all governments left records. They’re only trying to prove that there was someone (other than China) before Massachusetts.