LSAT Necessary and Sufficient Assumptions 3

Question 1

Argument: 'City parks improve mental health. Residents of Millbrook have poor mental health. Therefore, Millbrook should build more parks.' Which assumption is NECESSARY for this argument?

Accepted Answer

Building parks in Millbrook will improve residents' mental health

Answer

The argument requires that parks built in Millbrook will actually improve mental health there, connecting the general evidence to the specific recommendation.

Question 2

A sufficient assumption answer choice on the LSAT will, when added to the argument's premises:

Accepted Answer

Make the conclusion logically certain

Answer

A sufficient assumption makes the argument deductively valid—the conclusion cannot be false if the premises and the assumption are all true.

Question 3

Which of the following is a necessary assumption for the argument 'Since no evidence of fraud was found, the election was fair'?

Accepted Answer

If the election were unfair, evidence of fraud would have been found

Answer

The argument assumes that fraud leaves detectable evidence; without this, the absence of evidence wouldn't indicate absence of fraud.

Question 4

On Sufficient Assumption questions, correct answer choices are often characterized as:

Accepted Answer

Broader conditional statements that cover the argument's logical gap

Answer

Sufficient assumption answers tend to be broader 'if-then' statements that, when plugged in, guarantee the conclusion logically follows.

Question 5

Argument: 'This painting uses techniques common only in 17th-century Dutch masters. Therefore, this painting was made in the 17th century.' A necessary assumption is:

Accepted Answer

No modern artist can replicate 17th-century Dutch techniques

Answer

If a modern artist could use those techniques, the fact that the painting uses them wouldn't prove it's from the 17th century.

LSAT - Law School Admission Test Practice Test

LSAT - Law School Admission Test Practice Test

LSAT Necessary and Sufficient Assumptions 3