LSAT 158 – Section 3 – Question 24

LSAT 158 - Section 3 - Question 24

May 2020

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT158 S3 Q24
+LR
+Exp
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Net Effect +NetEff
A
3%
151
B
4%
151
C
10%
155
D
82%
162
E
1%
148
139
147
155
 +Medium 145.724 +SubsectionMedium

Scientist: Some consumer groups claim that the economic benefits of genetically engineered foodstuffs may be offset by hidden health risks to humans. However, the risk is minimal. In most cases of deliberate alteration of a plant’s genetic structure only a single gene in about 750,000 has been changed. Since the change in the organism’s genetic structure is so slight, it cannot have effects significant enough to be worrisome.

Summarize Argument
A Scientist argues that the risk to humans from eating genetically engineered foodstuffs is minimal. This is because mostly only one gene of 750,000 is changed, and such a small change cannot pose significant issues.

Notable Assumptions
The Scientist assumes that just because the number of genetic changes is so small, the change to the organism will also be small and not pose a significant risk. It could be that a *major* change is sparked by altering a single gene.

A
The genetically engineered plants that have been developed so far have few advantages over plants that are not genetically engineered.
This is irrelevant to the argument’s reasoning. The argument is focused on the impact of a single gene.
B
Whatever health risks there are in food from genetically altered plants may be somewhat reduced by other factors such as enrichment of the plants’ vitamin and mineral content.
While this acknowledges that the risk could be minimized, it does not impact the key reasoning in the argument. The main claim is that the risks of GMOs are minimal because only slight changes are made.
C
Scientists have yet to determine, for each characteristic of some plants and animals used for food, the precise location of the genes that determine that characteristic.
This is irrelevant to the argument. The reasoning is focused on *how many* changes there are, not the location of certain genes.
D
There are plants that are known to be toxic to some animals and whose toxicity is known to be affected by the alteration of a single gene.
This directly undermines the reasoning by showing that altering a single gene can have serious consequences. Thus, it weakens the argument.
E
Research has shown that those consumers who are most strongly opposed to genetically altered foods tend to be ill-informed on the issue.
The argument is not focused on whether those opposed to GMOs are ill-informed or not. This is completely separate from the argument’s reasoning.

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LSAT PrepTest 158 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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