LSAT 144 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q10

LR Question 10 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The Asian elephant walks with at least two…

QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption

CONCLUSION: The Asian elephant doesn’t run.

REASONING: The Asian elephant always has at least two or three feet on the ground, even when moving quickly.

ANALYSIS: On sufficient assumption questions, you just need to connect the evidence to the conclusion. Usually there are conditional statements, but here we just have two facts.

Feet on the ground                             Run

To prove the argument correct, just connect these two:

feet on the ground ➞ run

Note that on my own page, I make very short diagrams, like this: F ➞ R. I encourage you to do the same. The only reason I use words in these explanations is that it’s clearer for you, the reader. But on your own page you just have to make sense to yourself, not to other people.

(Actually, I didn’t draw this question at all: if the logic is simple enough it’s faster to avoid diagrams, if you’ve already mastered conditional reasoning.)

___________

1. The elephant can accelerate, so this doesn’t work.
2. CORRECT. This joins the evidence to the conclusion: feet on ground ➞ run
3. So? The argument was about running, which is different from fast walking, even if the speeds are the same.
4. We don’t care what’s unusual. We only care what the elephant can do, whether or not it’s usual.
5. This is about criteria for walking. But the argument is about criteria for running.