Bunuel wrote:
Archaeologist: An ancient stone building at our excavation site was composed of three kinds of stone—quartz, granite, and limestone. Of these, only limestone occurs naturally in the area. Most of the buildings at the site from the same time period had limestone as their only stone component, and most were human dwellings. Therefore, the building we are studying probably was not a dwelling.
Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the archaeologist’s reasoning?
(A) Most of the buildings that were used as dwellings at the site were made, at least in part, of limestone.
(B) Most of the buildings at the site that were not dwellings were made, at least in part, from types of stone that do not occur naturally in the area.
(C) Most of the buildings that were built from stones not naturally occurring in the area were not built with both quartz and granite.
(D) Most of the buildings at the site were used as dwellings.
(E) No quartz has been discovered on the site otherthan that found in the building being studied.
EXPLANATION FROM Fox LSAT
The reasoning here is totally stupid and unjustified. “Most buildings ‘round these parts have only one stone component, limestone. And most buildings ‘round these parts are dwellings. But this here building has quartz and granite in addition to the limestone. Therefore it’s probably not a dwelling.”
OK cowboy, but
why? I just don’t see how the addition of quartz and limestone would make something not a dwelling. I mean the logic is like saying, “Most buildings around here have a family room as their only social room, and most buildings around here are dwellings. But this here building has a family room, a media room, and a sweet man-cave with a pool table, wet bar, and jukebox. Therefore it’s probably not a dwelling.” No, dumbass.
It’s probably the dwelling of the richest guy in town.We’re asked to strengthen the archeologist’s reasoning, so let’s switch teams and find a premise that would make the argument make better sense.
A) This doesn’t strengthen the idea that the building in question is not a dwelling.
B) This at least helps a little bit. We know that the building in question has quartz and granite, which are not from around here. So if most non-dwellings in the area contain non-native rock, then that would tend to connect this building to non-dwellings. This strengthens somewhat, which means it could be the answer.
C) So what? This building does have quartz and granite. B was much better than this answer, because B connected having quartz and granite to being a non-dwelling. This one just says quartz and granite are rare. Who cares?
D) This would actually weaken the conclusion that the building in question is not a dwelling. We needed a strengthener.
E) Again, so what? Saying quartz is rare doesn’t do much, without an additional premise that says, “Rare materials are never used in dwellings.”
B was the only strengthener, so our answer is B.