LSAT 74, Logical Reasoning II, Q2

QUESTION TEXT: Historian: During the Industrial Revolution, for…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: We shouldn’t accept the “thrift and hard work” hypothesis for the success of the industrial revolution. We need historical evidence first.

REASONING: Successful explanations need to be based on facts.

ANALYSIS: Certain words indicate conclusions and premises. In the final sentence, “but” indicates that the author disagrees with what was said before. “So” introduces their conclusion.

For instance: John says we should buy the car. But it’s too expensive, so we should look for a better deal.

But = contrasting evidence.
So = conclusion.

(These definitions are generally true. But it’s possible for “so” not to be the conclusion in certain cases. Take the definitions above as rules of thumb.

___________

1. The productivity growth of the economy is what we’re trying to explain. It’s not the conclusion. The point of the argument is that we don’t yet know how to explain this growth.
2. This is just context. The fact that productivity growth raised living standards explains why we care about the industrial revolution in the first place.
3. CORRECT. See the analysis above. The final sentence states this conclusion and the reason for it.
4. The historian didn’t say that values were not the cause. The historian said that we don’t know if values were the cause. It’s possible they were – we just lack evidence.
5. This is just like D. The historian didn’t say there was no shift in values. They said we don’t know if there was a shift in values. It’s possible that there was one.

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