LSAT 133 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q8

LR Question 8 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Letter to the editor: Your article was unjustified in…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify The Conclusion

CONCLUSION: The article was wrong to criticize environmentalists.

REASONING: Studies show that wolf populations have stayed the same. This might seem to indicate that hunters aren’t killing too many wolves. But environmentalists have been adding new wolves to the island’s wolf population for decades.

ANALYSIS: When trying to identify a conclusion, ask yourself: Why are they telling me this? What’s their point?

The point is that the article was wrong and unjustified. The rest of the information supports that conclusion.

It’s a good argument. The only reason wolf populations haven’t been dropping is that environmentalists have been replacing the wolves.

___________

1. This is a fact that supports the conclusion that the article was wrong.
2. This is actually false, according to the letter. Hunters kill more wolves. Environmentalists make up for it by introducing new wolves.
3. The letter isn’t telling us how to solve the problem. It’s just complaining that the article was wrong when it claimed there was no problem.
4. The studies weren’t flawed; they were just cited out of context by the article. So the article was wrong. That’s the main conclusion.
5. CORRECT. This is a long and fancy way of saying that the article was unjustified.