LSAT 19, Logical Reasoning I, Q21, LSATHacks

LR Question 21 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Medieval Arabs had manuscripts of many ancient Greek…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: Medieval Arab poets didn’t care about Aristotle’s Poetics.

REASONING: If poets cared about the Poetics then they would have wanted Homer to be translated as well. But Homer was not translated into Arabic.

ANALYSIS: The argument is assuming that it was possible to have translated Homer’s poems. The correct answer strengthens the argument by showing this was true.

If it wasn’t possible to translate Homer then a lack of translation is no proof that medieval poets didn’t want an (impossible) translation.

___________

1. CORRECT. This shows that it would have been possible to translate Homer. But for some reason, he was never translated.
2. This doesn’t have anything to do with why Homer was never translated. It just describes a similarity between two stories.
3. Same as B. This doesn’t tell us why Homer wasn’t translated. It just tells us an interesting fact about Arab translations.
4. Modern Arab poets don’t tell us much about medieval Arab poets.
5. This tells us nothing about whether poets cared about the Poetics. It just tells us that both Arab poets and Aristotle were interested in drama.

Recap: The question begins with “Medieval Arabs had manuscripts of many ancient Greek”. It is a Strengthen question. Learn how to master LSAT Strengthen questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.

Hi, I'm Graeme Blake

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