LSAT 148 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q14

LR Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In order for life to exist on the recently discovered…

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.

___________

1. The “and” in the second statement made me skip this. I also noticed it was making two conditional statements.
2. This doesn’t give conditional statements! “Might” is not a conditional term. Neither is probability. Conditional statements deal in certainty.
3. 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.
4. This is a bad argument. It mixes up sufficient and necessary.
   Improving ➞ price increase
   The price is increasing, therefore the economy is improving.
5. 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.