LSAT 158 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q9

LR Question 9 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Robin: Archaeologists can study the artifacts left by ancient…

QUESTION TYPE: Point at Issue: Disagree

ARGUMENTS: Robin says that artifacts’ durability can tell us if an ancient culture was nomadic. Kendall says that the artifacts that a culture uses depend on what material is available.

ANALYSIS: What exactly do Robin and Kendall disagree about? Robin believes that the type of material an artifact is made of (Ex. What makes it durable or not) can show a culture’s lifestyle. Kendall’s counters by implying that a sedentary culture may end up creating artifacts that were quickly discarded if that culture has no access to durable material.

On the other hand, a nomadic society that only has access to durable material would make durable artifacts. Thus, the two of them would disagree over whether or not we can draw any conclusions about a culture’s lifestyle from the types of artifacts they made.

___________

1. This is a crazy answer: it commits Kendall to disagreeing that there is any distinction between sedentary and nomadic cultures!
2. CORRECT. This matches our prephrase. Robin thinks that we can assume cultures with non-durable artifacts are nomadic. Kendall disagrees, and says availability of materials is a factor.
3. No one on earth would disagree with this answer. Think about what it means. It says no evidence other than durability lets us determine if a culture is sedentary or nomadic. Expert testimony? Nope. Testimony from members of the culture? Nope. Arts, literature, testimony from nearby cultures? Nope, apparently none of that is at all relevant to determining if a culture is sedentary or nomadic!
    
   Apparently only durability of materials is relevant evidence. This answer is flat our crazy! Crazy answers are never correct, and they’re surprisingly common on the LSAT.
4. Whether or not Robin’s distinction is important is irrelevant to this argument. The argument is merely about that distinction.
5. They might actually agree about this. Both Robin and Kendall acknowledge studying artifacts can reveal whether a culture if sedentary or nomadic. Who would ever disagree with this answer?

Recap: The question begins with “Robin: Archaeologists can study the artifacts left by ancient”. It is a Point at Issue question. Learn how to master LSAT Point at Issue questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.