LSAT 131 – Section 1 – Question 14

LSAT 131 - Section 1 - Question 14

December 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT131 S1 Q14
+LR
+Exp
Argument part +AP
A
5%
159
B
8%
162
C
85%
165
D
1%
153
E
1%
158
127
141
155
 +Easier 147.383 +SubsectionMedium

It would not be surprising to discover that the trade routes between China and the West were opened many centuries, even millennia, earlier than 200 B.C., contrary to what is currently believed. After all, what made the Great Silk Road so attractive as a trade route linking China and the West—level terrain, easily traversable mountain passes, and desert oases—would also have made it an attractive route for the original emigrants to China from Africa and the Middle East, and this early migration began at least one million years ago.

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The author concludes that trade routes between China and the West may have opened earlier than 200 B.C. To support this claim, the author highlights the benefits of the Silk Road as a trade route: level terrain, easily traversable mountain passes, and desert oases. The author claims that in addition to facilitating trade, these benefits would have also facilitated immigration from Africa and the Middle East to China. Since this migration began at least one million years ago, it is possible that the Silk road had opened earlier than 200 B.C.

Identify Argument Part
The claim in the question stem provides support for the possibility that the trade routes had opened before 200 B.C.

A
It is cited as conclusive evidence for the claim that trade links between China and the Middle East were established long before 200 B.C.
The author does not make a conclusive claim that the trade links were opened long before 200 B.C.; the author only claims that this was possible.
B
It is an intermediate conclusion made plausible by the description of the terrain along which the migration supposedly took place.
The claim in the question stem is not an intermediate conclusion; it is a premise that we accept at face value. The claim in the question stem does not gain support from any other part of the argument.
C
It is offered as evidence in support of the claim that trade routes between China and the West could easily have been established much earlier than is currently believed.
The claim in the question stem provides a reason to believe that trade routes could have opened earlier than 200 B.C.; it is a premise that supports the conclusion.
D
It is offered as evidence against the claim that trade routes between China and Africa preceded those eventually established between China and the Middle East.
There is no claim in the argument that trade routes between China and Africa preceded trade routes between China and the Middle East.
E
It is the main conclusion that the argument attempts to establish about intercourse between China and the West.
The main conclusion is the first sentence of the argument; the claim in the question stem is not the main conclusion.

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LSAT PrepTest 131 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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