LSAT 131 – Section 2 – Question 08

LSAT 131 - Section 2 - Question 08

December 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT131 S2 Q08
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
1%
158
B
81%
164
C
0%
162
D
1%
154
E
16%
162
120
132
155
 +Easiest 147.936 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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Though ice cream is an excellent source of calcium, dairy farmers report that during the past ten years there has been a sharp decline in ice cream sales. And during the same period, sales of cheddar cheese have nearly doubled. Therefore, more and more people must be choosing to increase their intake of calcium by eating cheddar cheese rather than ice cream.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that more people are choosing to increase their calcium intake by eating cheddar cheese rather than ice cream. He supports this by pointing out that ice cream sales have sharply declined over the past ten years, while cheddar cheese sales have nearly doubled.

Identify and Describe Flaw
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of assuming that correlation proves causation. The author shows a correlation between a rise in cheese sales and a drop in ice cream sales, and then concludes that people turning to cheddar cheese for calcium is what caused these changes. But there could be other explanations for why people are buying less ice cream or why they’re buying more cheddar cheese.

A
fails to produce statistical evidence supporting the dairy farmers’ claims
The author doesn’t give statistical evidence for the dairy farmers’ claims, but he doesn’t need to. So (A) doesn’t describe a flaw in his argument.
B
fails to consider alternative explanations of the decline in sales of ice cream
The author concludes that people turning to cheddar cheese for calcium caused the decline in ice cream sales, without considering any alternative explanations for this decline.
C
relies solely on the testimony of individuals who are likely to be biased
The author doesn’t rely solely on the testimony of anyone. He relies partially on reports from dairy farmers, but we have no reason to believe that these farmers are likely to be biased.
D
presumes, without providing justification, that ice cream is a better source of calcium than is cheddar cheese
The author never makes this assumption. He says that ice cream is an excellent source of calcium, but he doesn’t assume that it’s a better source than cheddar cheese.
E
presumes, without providing justification, that people who eat cheddar cheese never eat ice cream
The author never makes this assumption. He concludes that more people are choosing to increase their calcium intake through cheddar cheese, but he doesn’t assume that no cheese eaters ever eat ice cream.

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LSAT PrepTest 131 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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