LSAT 119 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q6

LR Question 6 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Skeletal remains of early humans indicate clearly that…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: The diet of early humans was very different from ours.

REASONING: They had fewer dental problems than we did.

ANALYSIS: The argument assumes that dental problems, or the lack of them, indicate something meaningful about diet. But it doesn’t actually support that link. If someone said: “Dental records don’t reflect diet at all”, the whole argument would collapse. So to strengthen it, we need a reason to believe dental health and diet are connected.

___________

1. Healthy teeth would have no problems, while early humans had some problems (“fewer”). So they weren’t necessarily eating “healthy.” The conclusion only claims they were eating differently.
2. Always remember: “some” could mean 1-2 skeletons. It won’t do anything except disprove the statement “No early humans had a lot of cavities.”
3. That’s nice, but we’re trying to conclude their diet was different, not similar.
4. This would weaken the argument, showing that it wasn’t diet but age that caused the smaller number of cavities.
5. CORRECT. Yes. This means that differing levels of cavities indicate that diet likely differed as well.

Recap: The question begins with “Skeletal remains of early humans indicate clearly that”. It is a Strengthen question. Learn more about LSAT Strengthen questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.