Nursing schools cannot attract a greater number of able applicants than they currently do unless the problems of low ...

Ryn November 17, 2021

Why is this not the conclusion?

Hey there, Why is this statement not a conclusion? "It is clear that with either a shortage of nurses or lowered entrance standards for the profession, the current high quality of health care cannot be maintained." Is it because of the terms "either" and "or" because I thought the author of the passage was trying to prove to me that the quality cannot be maintained if something happens? And is "it is clear" not a conclusion indicator like "clearly"? Or is "it is clear" a fact indicator? I definitely went wrong with this question because I thought it was an argument and not a set of facts, tears*.

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Jay-Etter January 23, 2022

Hi Ryn,
I have two suggestions for this one.
First is that the questions types Must Be True, Inference, or Most Strongly Supported frequently do not have a conclusion in the argument but instead are just a set of facts or conditions that we will use to make an inference. (occasionally they may have an argument in which case it will be pretty clear). When you see one of these question types it should indicate that there may not be a conclusion in the stimulus.

Per your specific question, the last sentence is not a conclusion because remember that a conclusion must be based on other ideas in the stimulus. This statement is a conditional that is saying
IF shortage or lowered standards -> can't maintain quality
But they are just presenting this idea to us as a fact (it is clear). "it is clear" in this case is functioning as a fact indicator. "In it clear" or "clearly" because they could represent either fact or a conclusion. Most commonly they are fact indicators. Keep an eye out for "clearly + conclusion indicators" such as "it is clear, therefore, that ....." or "clearly, then, ......" In these cases, clearly works to indicate a conclusion.

Overall, however, the biggest thing to remember is that the conclusion needs to be an idea that is being supported from elsewhere in the stimulus. The biggest reason the last sentence is a fact not a conclusion is because there is nowhere else in the stimulus that supports the idea
shortage or lowered standards -> can't maintain quality, this is just being given to us with no support.

Ashkan April 12, 2022

Is this question from a previous real LSAT?

Emil-Kunkin April 16, 2022

Hi @ashkan, this is indeed from a real lsat, this is from prep test 5, which is June 1992