October 2011 LSAT
Section 4
Question 9
The passage provides information that most helps to answer which one of the following questions?
Replies
shunhe on February 8, 2020
Hi @shafieiava,Thanks for the question! The question in (A) asks for what areas outside Europe did Spanish-language proverbs currently used in Mexican American communities originate. The lines you pointed to, lines 7-12, tell us that many reached Mexico from peninsular Spain (part of Europe) and other parts of Europe. However, the question is asking about areas outside of Europe, and so we aren’t given any answers to that. Thus, (A) is wrong. The lines you pointed to supporting (E) are the right ones to look at! Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
Andrew on April 8, 2021
Is there a way to know that A is wrong without knowing that Spain is part of Europe because I don't think the passage ever mentioned that Spain is part of Europe?Mazen on April 28, 2022
Hi Andrew,My thinking is this:
You do not have to know that Spain is part of Europe, but you cannot assume that it is not. Say you do not know that Spain is part of Europe, you still cannot assume that Spain is not.
No unwarranted assumptions on the LSAT (or life for that matter if you ask me!!!)
Emil-Kunkin on May 5, 2022
Hi Mazen,I like your reasoning here, and I think that this is a totally valid way to justify the answer without having to resort to outside knowledge. But, while the LSAt does not expect specialist knowledge, test takers can use common sense, and so a statement like "Spain is in Europe" does not have to be explicitly made in order for test takers to accept it to be true.
Mazen on May 7, 2022
Thank You Emil