Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 3, Question 4 (Main Conclusion)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Main Conclusion questions ask for the single claim the rest of the argument is there to support.
- Ask which claim the other sentences back up. The conclusion often sits in the middle, and the last sentence is often just evidence.
- Every question on this test is original, written to the same logical skeletons as real questions, and Steve checked every one himself before release.
The question
Verrine Textiles should concentrate on making affordable enzyme-based fabric dyes suitable for everyday production runs. Enzyme-based dyes are better than mineral dyes and petroleum dyes in several respects. Because they bind to fiber at lower temperatures, enzyme-based dyes leave far less unfixed pigment in the wash water, and so the wastewater they produce is much cheaper to treat. Enzyme-based dyes also hold their color through roughly 4 times as many launderings as petroleum dyes do. At present, though, their price confines them to a few specialty fabrics.
4. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion drawn in the argument?
- (A)Enzyme-based dyes are better than mineral dyes and petroleum dyes in several respects.
- (B)The wastewater left by enzyme-based dyes is much cheaper to treat than the wastewater left by other dyes.
- (C)Enzyme-based dyes hold their color through far more launderings than petroleum dyes do.
- (D)Verrine Textiles should concentrate on making affordable enzyme-based dyes for everyday production runs.
- (E)The price of enzyme-based dyes currently confines them to a few specialty fabrics.
DWhy (D) is correct
The recommendation sits in the first sentence: Verrine Textiles should concentrate on affordable enzyme-based dyes for everyday production runs. Everything that follows, the lower-temperature binding, the cheaper wastewater treatment, the fourfold gain in wash durability, and the current price problem, backs up why that recommendation makes sense. None of those details is the point being argued; each one is a reason to accept the point already stated.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) That enzyme-based dyes beat mineral and petroleum dyes in several respects is the summary premise, not the recommendation itself.
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) The cheaper wastewater treatment is one specific advantage offered in support.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) Holding color through about 4 times as many launderings is another supporting detail.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) That price currently limits enzyme-based dyes to specialty fabrics is the problem the recommendation is meant to solve, offered as context and support rather than as the conclusion.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Main Conclusion. Main Conclusion questions ask for the single claim the rest of the argument is there to support.
How do I get better at Main Conclusion questions?
Ask which claim the other sentences back up. The conclusion often sits in the middle, and the last sentence is often just evidence. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
