LSAT 107 – Section 3 – Question 07

LSAT 107 - Section 3 - Question 07

October 1999

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Ask a tutor

Target time: 1:02

This is question data from the 7Sage LSAT Scorer. You can score your LSATs, track your results, and analyze your performance with pretty charts and vital statistics - all with a Free Account ← sign up in less than 10 seconds

Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT107 S3 Q07
+LR
+Exp
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
4%
156
B
6%
157
C
1%
155
D
0%
145
E
88%
167
143
150
157
 +Medium 148.579 +SubsectionMedium

Newsletter for community-center volunteers: Retired persons who regularly volunteer their time to help others generally display fewer and milder effects of aging than their nonvolunteering contemporaries: in social resources, mental outlook, physical health, economic resources, and overall functioning, they are found to be substantially stronger than nonvolunteers. Volunteering is often described as doing good works to improve the lives of others. How good to know that there is evidence that it can equally benefit your own well-being!

Summarize Argument
The newsletter concludes that volunteering can benefit one’s well-being. It supports this by noting that retired people who volunteer tend to show fewer signs of aging than retired people who don’t, and that volunteers are stronger socially, mentally, physically, and economically than non-volunteers.

Identify and Describe Flaw
This is a cookie-cutter “correlation does not imply causation” flaw, where the newsletter sees a positive correlation and then jumps to the conclusion that one thing causes the other, without ruling out alternative hypotheses. Specifically, it overlooks two key alternatives:

(1) The causal relationship could be reversed— maybe stronger people tend to volunteer more, not the other way around.

(2) Some other, underlying factor could be causing the correlation—maybe there’s something that causes people to both be stronger and to volunteer.

A
the center has a self-interested motive to attract new volunteers
This might be true; we don’t have enough information to know either way. But even if it is true, (A) doesn't describe the logical flaw in the newsletter’s argument. It’s based on that logical flaw that “the inference drawn above is unwarranted.”
B
it interprets “well-being” as including the factors of social and economic resources, mental outlook, physical health, and overall functioning
This is true, but it doesn’t describe the flaw in the newsletter’s argument. Interpreting “well-being” in this way is entirely reasonable.
C
some of those who do not volunteer might be older than some volunteers and so could not be considered their peers
This is true, but it doesn’t describe the flaw in the newsletter’s argument. Some of those who don’t volunteer might also be younger than some volunteers; it doesn’t matter to the argument, which only compares retired volunteers with their “nonvolunteering contemporaries.”
D
growing older might not necessarily result in a change in mental outlook
This might be true, but it doesn't describe the flaw in the newsletter’s argument. The argument assumes that volunteering causes a stronger mental outlook. It doesn’t assume that growing older causes a change in mental outlook.
E
those with better resources, health, outlook, and functioning are more able to work as volunteers
This describes an alternative hypothesis that the author ignores. She assumes that volunteering causes increased well-being, without considering that instead, those with a higher well-being might be more likely or more able to volunteer.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 107 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply