LSAT 149 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q9

LR Question 9 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Politician: Some proponents of unilateral nuclear arms…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: It would be dangerous to unilaterally get rid of nuclear weapons.

REASONING: Some countries with nuclear weapons may soon be in civil war. They can’t be trusted to obey international agreements.

ANALYSIS: The argument has the following structure:

1. Opposing opinion (“some proponents”)
2. Conclusion (“this would be dangerous”)
3. First premise (“because….”)
4. Second premise (“These countries cannot be relied upon….”)

The word “because” indicates the conclusion. In an argument, the words before “because” are usually the conclusion, and what comes after “because” is evidence.

Also, usually when an answer says “some proponents argue”, the author’s conclusion will be “those proponents are wrong”. This is a very common LSAT structure and you must learn to recognize it.

___________

1. This is evidence. The conclusion is that, because of this, we shouldn’t get rid of our nuclear weapons.
2. The author disagrees with this idea. Countries in civil war wouldn’t be influenced by international agreements.
3. The author doesn’t say this. This answer is playing on your outside knowledge. In the real world, many countries hide the extent of their nuclear programs. But while this is true, it has nothing to do with the argument!
4. The author didn’t say we couldn’t make an agreement. We might succeed in making an international agreement. But it would be dangerous to rely on it, since countries in civil war can’t be expected to obey the agreement.
5. CORRECT. This is it. It would be risky because many countries are near civil war and couldn’t be relied upon.