LSAT Question Explanation
PT 158, Section 2, Question 3
Necessary AssumptionArgument structure
The bovines had been domesticated and the people in the region were no longer exclusively hunter-gatherers.
Bovine remains were found in a region. The remains were dated to a time when there were people in the region, but no other large animals. If there had been natural water sources in the region, there would have been other large animals.
Explanation
The evidence in this stimulus supports that there were no natural water sources in the region. Then, the conclusion jumps to the claim that the bovines must have been domesticated.
This conclusion is not proven because what if bovines can exist in areas without natural water sources or humans? Maybe they're adapted to the desert somehow, or they're migratory and go somewhere else to drink during the certain season, or they can get enough hydration from the plants that they eat, who knows.
The author seems to assume that bovines wouldn't exist in a region with no natural water sources unless they are domesticated by humans.
Answer choices
This is needed for the given evidence to support the conclusion, that because there weren't natural water sources the bovines must have been domesticated.
If the statement in this answer choice were not true, and bovines often live in areas without natural water sources or humans, then the whole argument would fall apart.
We don't need domesticating animals to be one of the first things a society does when they become hunter-gatherers. It could be one of the last things they do, that wouldn't change this argument.
This doesn't need to be true. We're just trying to show that the bovines specifically were domesticated. Whether or not humans could have helped other large animals survive is not relevant.
This doesn't need to be true. Some societies can utilize both agriculture and hunting/gathering, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. The conclusion is just saying that humans domesticated the bovines and claims that would have made them at least somewhat agricultural.
This doesn't need to be true, the author is just saying the bovines couldn't have been wild because there were zero natural water sources. It doesn't matter if domesticated animals need the same, more, or less water than wild animals.