LSAT 141 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q5

LR Question 5 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: While biodiversity is indispensable to the survival of…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: Biodiversity doesn’t require the survival of all current species.

REASONING: Biodiversity requires that all niches be filled, but often a niche can be filled by more than one species.

ANALYSIS: The word “while” is a conclusion indicator. Any statement of opinion, uncertainty or qualification tends to be the conclusion.

Another way of finding the conclusion is asking yourself: why are they telling me this? In this case, the author is trying to convince us that not all species are essential to biodiversity.

A third way to find the conclusion is to ask which statements support other statements, and which are supported. In this case, the second sentence is clearly supporting a claim about biodiversity in general. In particular, the fact that many niches can be filled by multiple species is support for the conclusion that biodiversity does not require that all species survive.

___________

1. CORRECT. See the analysis above.
2. This is context that provides support for the conclusion.
3. This is a qualifying statement used to give context to the conclusion.
4. This is evidence that not all species are necessary.
5. The stimulus didn’t mention “the species most indispensable for biodiversity”. This can’t be the conclusion.