LSAT 17, Logical Reasoning I, Q10, LSATHacks

LR Question 10 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Cafeteria patron: The apples sold in this cafeteria…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: The cafeteria apples are covered in dangerous pesticides.

REASONING: Most fruit is sprayed with dangerous pesticide that needs to be washed off. The cafeteria doesn’t wash its fruit and the apples are greasy.

ANALYSIS: This is not a good argument. An apple now passes through many hands before it reaches you. There are plenty of people who could have washed it apart from the cafeteria.

___________

1. CORRECT. Yes. The patron is assuming that nobody washed the fruit before it got to the cafeteria. If the apples were already washed then it is doubtful they still need washing to remove pesticides.
2. This would strengthen the patron’s argument. But even if the grease weren’t pesticide the patron might still be correct.
3. This wouldn’t affect whether or not those apples had pesticide.
4. If all pesticides could be washed off, would the patron’s argument be any weaker? Nope.
5. The grease is really a sideshow here. The patron asked if the cafeteria washed its fruit because he noticed the apples were greasy. That’s all. Grease isn’t necessarily related to pesticides.

Recap: The question begins with “Cafeteria patron: The apples sold in this cafeteria”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn more about LSAT Necessary questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.

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