QUESTION TEXT: In order for life to exist on…
QUESTION TYPE: Parallel Reasoning
CONCLUSION: There is no life on planet P23.
REASONING: Life on P23 –> water on its surface
There is no water on the surface of P23.
ANALYSIS: This is a good argument. It gives a single condition statement. It then negates the necessary condition, which disproves the sufficient condition.
___________
- The “and” in the second statement made me skip this. I also noticed it was making two conditional statements.
- This doesn’t give conditional statements! “Might” is not a conditional term. Neither is probability. Conditional statements deal in certainty.
- CORRECT. This matches exactly. It negates the necessary, therefore negating the sufficient.
Planning to drill –> buy new equipment
The oil companies aren’t buying new equipment.
Therefore, they aren’t planning to drill. - This is a bad argument. It mixes up sufficient and necessary.
Improving –> price increase
The price is increasing, therefore the economy is improving. - This is a good argument. But it’s different. It gives the sufficient condition, instead of negating the necessary
Exports decrease –> trade deficit up
Exports have decreases recently, so the trade deficit is up.
Recap: The question begins with “In order for life to exist on”. It is a Parallel Reasoning question. To practice more Parallel Reasoning questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.
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