LSAT 111 – Section 4 – Question 10

LSAT 111 - Section 4 - Question 10

October 2001

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT111 S4 Q10
+LR
Strengthen +Streng
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Sampling +Smpl
A
0%
153
B
0%
157
C
2%
163
D
94%
165
E
4%
160
120
120
137
 +Easiest 144.86 +SubsectionEasier

Kevin’s explanation

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A recent study suggests that Alzheimer’s disease, which attacks the human brain, may be caused by a virus. In the study, blood from 11 volunteers, each of whom had the disease, was injected into rats. The rats eventually exhibited symptoms of another degenerative neurological disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is caused by a virus. This led the scientist who conducted the study to conclude that Alzheimer’s disease might be caused by a virus.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The scientist hypothesizes Alzheimer’s disease is caused by a virus. This is based on a study where rats injected with blood from Alzheimer’s disease patients exhibited signs of a different neurological disorder which is caused by a virus.

Notable Assumptions
The scientist assumes that the rats developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease due to being injected blood from Alzheimer’s disease patients; if that virus came from elsewhere, then the hypothesis makes no sense. The scientist also assumes that the same virus that causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease causes Alzheimer’s disease. It would otherwise be purely coincidental that Alzheimer’s patients carry two separate disease-causing viruses.

A
Alzheimer’s disease in rats is not caused by a virus.
We have no evidence rats can even get Alzheimer’s. If anything, this seems to weaken the scientist’s argument.
B
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease affects only motor nerves in rats’ limbs, not their brains.
We don’t care about how the disease affects rats. We care about where Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease came from.
C
The virus that causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in rats has no effect on humans.
If it has no effect on humans, then it couldn’t cause Alzheimer’s disease. This weakens the scientist’s argument.
D
The symptoms known, respectively, as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Alzheimer’s disease are different manifestations of the same disease.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Alzheimer’s disease are the same disease. Thus, a virus that causes one must cause the other, and we know that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in rats was caused by a virus.
E
Blood from rats without Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease produced no symptoms of the disease when injected into other experimental rats.
We need to strengthen the connection between a virus and Alzheimer’s disease. We can imagine rats without a virus don’t infect other rats.

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LSAT PrepTest 111 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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