Sufficient AssumptionDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: We know the Sals people could smelt copper and bronze because we found their tools and they had words for those metals. Since they did not have a word for iron, the author concludes they did not smelt it.
Conclusion: The Sals people did not engage in the smelting of iron.
Reasoning: The Sals had the technology to smelt other metals and specific words for them, but they lacked a specific word for iron in their language.
Analysis: The argument relies on a major assumption: that if a culture smelts a metal, they must have a specific word for it. The author treats the absence of a word as definitive proof of the absence of the activity. To make this argument logically airtight, we need a premise that bridges this gap. Look for an answer that states that having a specific vocabulary for a metal is a necessary consequence of smelting that metal.
Conclusion: The Sals people did not engage in the smelting of iron.
Reasoning: The Sals had the technology to smelt other metals and specific words for them, but they lacked a specific word for iron in their language.
Analysis: The argument relies on a major assumption: that if a culture smelts a metal, they must have a specific word for it. The author treats the absence of a word as definitive proof of the absence of the activity. To make this argument logically airtight, we need a premise that bridges this gap. Look for an answer that states that having a specific vocabulary for a metal is a necessary consequence of smelting that metal.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage12.The conclusion drawn above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
Correct Answer
E
E provides exactly the needed conditional: if a culture smelted a metal, then it had a distinct word for that metal. Given there’s no distinct word for iron, the contrapositive yields that the Sals did not smelt iron, making the argument valid.
Upgrade Your Prep
Ready to go beyond free explanations?
LSAT Perfection is the #1 modern LSAT prep platform, trusted by thousands of students for comprehensive test strategies, advanced drilling, and full analytics on every PrepTest.
Detailed explanations for 59 PrepTests
Advanced drillset builder
Personalized analytics
Built-in Wrong Answer Journal