LR Question 17 Explanation
QUESTION TYPE: Role in Argument
CONCLUSION: Heavy rains will happen more often if the earth’s atmosphere becomes much warmer.
REASONING: A warm atmosphere leads to:
- Warmer oceans, which cause fast evaporation, which means rain clouds form more quickly.
- More moisture and larger clouds.
- Large clouds lead to heavier downpours.
ANALYSIS: You don’t need to get too technical for role in argument questions. Just identify the conclusion and premises. The conclusion is the first sentence. The fact that it says “likely” indicates that it’s probably an opinion and thus the conclusion.
The stimulus lists three facts to support the conclusion. You can combine the facts into one statement: “Warming will cause faster accumulation of large clouds that cause heavier downpours”. This statement supports the slightly more direct idea that a warm atmosphere leads to more heavy rains.
The sentence in question is just a fact. The term “in general” is a clue: it’s not a conclusion indicator.
___________
- The first sentence is the conclusion.
- The first sentence is the only explicitly stated conclusion. Explicitly stated = written down.
- This answer tempted me. But to choose this, you’d have to say which of the first two facts supports the third. Neither of them do: the third fact stands on its own and doesn’t need support.
- CORRECT. See the explanation above. The three facts stand independently of each other, and combine to support the first sentence, which is the conclusion.
- Nonsense. There was no phenomenon in the conclusion, only a prediction of a phenomenon. So the premises don’t explain the phenomenon. Instead, they support the likelihood of the prediction. That’s the second way to eliminate this answer: the third sentence definitely supports the conclusion.
Free Logical Reasoning lesson
Get a free sample of the Logical Reasoning Mastery Seminar. Learn tips for solving LR questions
Hi, I'm Graeme Blake
I run LSAT Hacks, and got a 177 on the LSAT. The single best thing I've ever made is the set of LSAT Mastery seminars. They show you how to think like a 170+ scorer when doing questions. Get them here: Mastery Seminars
I guarantee you'll like them, or you get your money back within 7 days. There's no risk. Check the reviews, people have said they improved within a few days.
---------
Photos and Updates: You can follow me on Instagram here
For updates, sign up for my email list. I update whenever I have new posts.
