LSAT 119 – Section 4 – Question 17

LSAT 119 - Section 4 - Question 17

June 2005

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT119 S4 Q17
+LR
+Exp
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
5%
155
B
2%
153
C
7%
157
D
15%
158
E
71%
163
140
151
162
 +Medium 145.1 +SubsectionEasier

Researcher: Hard water contains more calcium and magnesium than soft water contains. Thus, those who drink mostly soft water incur an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and hypertension, for people being treated for these conditions tend to have lower levels of magnesium in their blood.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis

The researcher hypothesizes that people who drink mostly soft water have a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and hypertension than people who drink mostly hard water. This is because hard water has more magnesium than soft water. The researcher’s hypothesis is based on the phenomenon that people being treated for the aforementioned conditions having lower levels of magnesium in their blood.

Notable Assumptions

The researcher assumes that the difference in hard and soft water’s magnesium levels is not negligible. The researcher also assumes that lower levels of magnesium (at least in part) caused people to develop heart disease, stroke, and hypertension, as opposed to the low magnesium levels being an effect of these conditions.

A
Magnesium deficiency is not uncommon, even in relatively prosperous countries with an otherwise generally adequate diet.

This does not affect the argument. The researcher does not discuss magnesium deficiencies: he focuses on the relative magnesium levels in hard and soft water, and the low magnesium levels in the blood of people receiving treatment. We cannot conclude that they are deficient.

B
Magnesium is needed to prevent sodium from increasing blood pressure.

This does not affect the argument. The role of magnesium in maintaining blood pressure is not relevant to the argument.

C
As people age, their ability to metabolize magnesium deteriorates.

This does not affect the argument. We don’t know about the ages of the patients being treated or how age affects one’s likeliness to develop one of the mentioned conditions.

D
The ingestion of magnesium supplements inhibits the effectiveness of many medicines used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease.

This does not affect the argument. (D) suggests those being treated for these conditions cannot take supplements to increase their low magnesium levels. This is compatible with the author’s assumption that lower levels of magnesium increase one’s risk of the conditions described.

E
Compounds commonly used to treat hypertension and heart disease diminish the body’s capacity to absorb and retain magnesium.

This weakens the argument. It exploits the researcher’s assumption that lower magnesium levels caused people to need treatment for the conditions described. (E) says the opposite: that the lower magnesium levels are a result of receiving treatment.

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LSAT PrepTest 119 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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