LSAT 5 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q17

LR Question 17 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Being articulate has been equated with having a large…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: A large vocabulary can actually make you less articulate.

REASONING: People with big vocabularies tend not to do the following: engage in creative self-expression when no available words seem adequate.

ANALYSIS: In other words: their vocabularies are too good for them to need to be creative, and presumably being articulate requires being creative.

The argument is assuming that people who use creative self-expression in those situations are articulate.

___________

1. CORRECT. If truly articulate people cannot express themselves when their vocabulary seems inadequate…well, that wrecks the argument. The only evidence was that people with large vocabularies will never be in that situation. But apparently articulate people also cannot express themselves in such situations.
2. We want to know what people with large vocabularies do. This tells us what people without large vocabularies do.
3. The argument is arguing people with large vocabularies generally aren’t articulate. So this assumption isn’t necessary: it says that people with large vocabularies are the most articulate people.
4. Not necessary. If you were teaching a child to be more articulate you would probably have to make sure they learn at least a basic vocabulary.
5. The argument is assuming this doesn’t happen often. If it never happened the argument would be even stronger.

Recap: The question begins with “Being articulate has been equated with having a large”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn how to master LSAT Necessary questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.