LSAT 74, Logical Reasoning I, Q17

QUESTION TEXT: How the pigment known as Han purple was…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: The ancient Chinese probably discovered Han purple by accident while making glass.

REASONING: The same ingredients and similar processes were used to make white glass and Han purple.

ANALYSIS: The argument has implied that it’s possible that Han purple was discovered during the production of white glass. The makers of white glass were using the right ingredients, and a related process.

But the argument didn’t say if Han purple was invented in a place where white glass was made! If Han purple was invented somewhere without white glass, then the conclusion is almost certainly wrong.

The right answer strengthens the argument by at least showing that white glass could have led to the discovery of Han purple. It restricts the production of Han purple only to an area that also produced white glass.

Note: This is a very hard question. The correct answer is asking you to conceptualize an alternate possibility (that Han purple was discovered in an area without white glass) and then to recognize that answer A eliminates that possibility.

There would have been a simpler way of doing that. Answer A could have said “Han purple was invented in an area where white glass was produced”. But if the right answer had said that, then this question would have been too easy, wouldn’t it?

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1. CORRECT. This eliminates the possibility that white glass and Han purple were produced in completely separate regions.
   Note: This answer would have been equally strong if it said that white glass and Han purple were each produced all over China. The main thing is that it shows the two materials were produced in the same areas, therefore accidental discovery was possible.
2. This is just an irrelevant fact about how the materials were used. We care about how they were made.
3. This doesn’t tell us about how Han purple was invented. It tells us how many people knew how to make it after it was invented.
4. This shows that it would have been easy to make white glass. But that doesn’t prove anything about the production of Han purple.
   For instance, the material to make wheels on suitcases was easily accessible for years, but we didn’t think of the idea. Upright wheeled suitcases were only invented in 1987.
5. This doesn’t explain anything. Maybe white glass objects were more durable than Han purple objects. Who cares? We’re only interested in what leads to the initial invention of Han purple.

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