Strengthen with Necessary Premise Questions - - Question 40
Harry Trevalga: You and your publication have unfairly discriminated against my poems. I have submitted thirty poems ...
Julie-VJuly 22, 2019
Answer Explanation
Hi LSAT Max,
I chose choice (D) as the correct answer. I was wondering if someone could explain why this is not the best answer compared to (C) and how we could correctly approach the right answer. Thank you in advance!
Reply
Create a free account to read and
take part in forum discussions.
This is a strengthen with a necessary premise question. We're looking for the answer choice that's an assumption that is required by the argument. We can use the negation test to see which answer choice is required. The negation of the correct answer choice will make the argument fall apart.
(D) says, "The poetry editor’s decisions on which poems to publish are not based strictly on judgments of intrinsic merit."
(D)'s negation is, "The poetry editor’s decisions on which poems to publish are based strictly on judgments of intrinsic merit."
It's not important to the publisher's argument exactly how the judgments are made; rather, what's important is whether or not the editor knows who wrote the poems. (D)'s negation doesn't wreck the argument, so it's not the correct answer choice.
(C) says, "The poetry editor cannot recognize the poems submitted by Harry Trevalga as his unless Trevalga’s name is attached to them."
(C)'s negation is, "The poetry editor can recognize the poems submitted by Harry Trevalga as his even without Trevalga’s name is attached to them."
(C)'s negation wrecks the argument. If the poetry editor could recognize Trevalga's poems by his style or through some other method, then she may be able to discriminate against him unfairly even if his name isn't attached to the poems. Thus, (C) is the correct answer choice.
Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!
