LSAT Explanation PT 43, S2, Q17: No small countries and no countries

LSAT Question Stem

If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Must Be True question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is E. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

The question type for this problem is Must Be True (MBT), which means we need to find the answer choice that must be true based on the information provided in the passage.

First, let's analyze the passage and break down the statements:

1. No small countries (SC) and no countries in the southern hemisphere (SH) have permanent seats (PS) on the United Nations Security Council.

- SC or SH -> /PS

- The contrapositive: /SC and /SH <- PS

2. Each of the five countries with a permanent seat (PS) on the Security Council is in favor of increased international peacekeeping efforts (IP) and a greater role for the United Nations in moderating regional disputes (MR).

- PS -> IP and MR

3. However, some countries that are in favor of increased international peacekeeping efforts (IP) are firmly against increased spending on refugees (ISR) by the United Nations.

- IP -> /ISR

Now let's look at each answer choice and see which one must be true based on our analysis:

a) Some small countries do not want the United Nations to increase its spending on refugees.

- We cannot make this conclusion based on the information provided. We only know that small countries do not have permanent seats on the Security Council, but we don't know their stance on refugee spending.

b) Some countries in the southern hemisphere are not in favor of increased international peacekeeping efforts.

- We cannot make this conclusion either. We only know that countries in the southern hemisphere do not have permanent seats on the Security Council, but we don't know their stance on international peacekeeping efforts.

c) Some countries that have permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council are against increased spending on refugees by the United Nations.

- We cannot make this conclusion. We know that countries with permanent seats are in favor of increased international peacekeeping efforts, but we don't know their stance on refugee spending.

d) Some small countries are in favor of a greater role for the United Nations in moderating regional disputes.

- We cannot make this conclusion. We only know that small countries do not have permanent seats on the Security Council, but we don't know their stance on the United Nations' role in moderating regional disputes.

e) Some countries that are in favor of a greater role for the United Nations in moderating regional disputes are not located in the southern hemisphere.

- This statement must be true. We know that countries with permanent seats (which are not in the southern hemisphere) are in favor of a greater role for the United Nations in moderating regional disputes. Therefore, there must be at least some countries in favor of this greater role that are not located in the southern hemisphere.

So, the correct answer choice is (e).