June 2007 LSAT Section 3 Question 17

When exercising the muscles in one's back, it is important, in order to maintain a healthy back, to exercise the musc...

RS1 on July 25, 2020

Can you negate answer choice B

In order to get the right answer for necessary assumptions, I use the denial test. I use it for answer choice B I get an answer that strengthens the conclusion, not one that unravels it.

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Ravi on July 25, 2020

@RS1,

Negating (B), we have

"Exercising the muscles on the opposite sides of the spine unequally
DOES NOT TEND to lead to unbalanced muscle development."

In looking back at the argument, the intermediate conclusion states
that one needs to have balanced muscle development, and this statement
goes on to support the overall conclusion that one should exercise
both sides of their back equally. This requires assuming that
exercising both sides of the back equally helps to develop balanced
muscular development in the back.

If the argument is assuming that exercising both sides of the back
equally leads to balanced muscular development, this requires also
assuming that exercising unequally leads to unbalanced muscle
development. Thus, negating (B) destroys the argument, so this is why
(B) in its original form is a necessary premise.

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