LSAT 103 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q3

LR Question 3 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Even though trading in ivory has been outlawed by international…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: Fake ivory won’t do much to stop the illegal ivory trade.

REASONING: The fake ivory is good for pianos, but pianos have never used much ivory.

ANALYSIS: It’s possible that the fake ivory is useful as a general ivory substitute, and that other people besides piano makers will like it.

The argument would be stronger if we knew that only piano makers would use the new ivory.

___________

1. We don’t care if people can spot the fake ivory. We care if they use it, in place of regular ivory.
2. This would weaken the argument, by showing that the fake ivory could replace real ivory in all cases.
3. So? Guess what…dog hair and dandelion stems have also failed to replace ivory on piano keys. There are an infinite number of things that don’t work as piano keys.
4. CORRECT. This shows that synthetic ivory won’t work well as a material for ornamental carvings. If you like “authentic materials”, then you won’t settle for fake ivory in your ornamental carvings. It looks like there will still be much demand for real ivory.
5. This shows that synthetic ivory is affordable, which weakens the argument.

Recap: The question begins with “Even though trading in ivory has been outlawed by international”. It is a Strengthen question. Learn how to master LSAT Strengthen questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.