LSAT 158 – Section 3 – Question 10

LSAT 158 - Section 3 - Question 10

May 2020

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT158 S3 Q10
+LR
+Exp
Main conclusion or main point +MC
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
A
1%
149
B
85%
162
C
11%
153
D
3%
152
E
1%
142
131
141
152
 +Easier 145.724 +SubsectionMedium

Radioactive elements may have been created when the universe began. However, even if this occurred, these elements are clearly still being created in the universe today. Radioactive elements are unstable, so most of them decay within at most a few million years into other, nonradioactive elements. So, if no new radioactive elements had been created after the universe began, almost no radioactive elements would be left in the universe today, but there is an abundance of such elements.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that radioactive elements are still being created in the universe. This conclusion is based on the contrapositive of a conditional statement offered as support. If no new radioactive elements had been created after the universe began, then there would be almost no radioactive elements left in the universe today. But we know there’s a large amount of such elements today.

Identify Conclusion
The conclusion is the author’s assertion that radioactive elements are still being created today: “[T]hese elements are clearly still being created in the universe today.”

A
Any radioactive elements created when the universe began have probably decayed into other, nonradioactive elements.
This is an inference we can draw from the third sentence. Based on this, the author believes that if no radioactive elements had been created after the universe began, we wouldn’t find many radioactive elements today. This conditional is used to support the author’s conclusion.
B
Radioactive elements are being created in the universe today.
This is a paraphrase of the author’s conclusion.
C
If no new radioactive elements had been created after the universe began, almost no radioactive elements would be left in the universe today.
This is a subsidiary conclusion based on the premise that most radioactive elements decay within a few million years. The author uses this conditional to conclude that radioactive elements were created after the universe began.
D
It is possible that radioactive elements were created when the universe began.
This is context. The author’s argument concerns whether there were radioactive elements created after the universe began.
E
Due to their instability, most of the universe’s radioactive elements decay within at most a few million years into other, nonradioactive elements.
This is a premise.

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LSAT PrepTest 158 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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