PT13.S2.Q15 - Smokers of Pipes or Cigars

wkim2015

I have to be missing something here. Can somebody explain to me how the answer in this question is (e) and not (c)? I just don't understand how inhaling smoke in a way that non-cigarette smokers inhale somehow puts them at an equal risk?

Nabintou-1

Gonna give this a shot:

C is wrong on the grounds of irrelevance and possibly even contradiction to the stimulus. The first sentence in the stimulus reads that smokers of pipes/cigars are at lower risk, and then ans. choice C seems to be looking for a way to equate them in saying "x develops no earlier than y." More importantly, [when] one develops in contrast to another still doesn't help to explain why ex-cigarette smokers run a greater risk when they give it up and take up pipes/cigars instead.

*In resolve the paradox questions, we're not attempting to deny one of the points that results in the paradox. Instead, trying to show how it's possible for both (or all) points to remain true, yet for the conclusion to still make sense.

Ans. choice E is correct because it does exactly that. It gives an additional reason (explanation) of why ex-cigarette smokers are at a greater risk---because the cigarettes have had some sort of lasting effect in how their bodies inhale smoke, including smoke from pipes and cigars. Those who never smoked cigarettes to begin with (and have only ever smoked pipes/cigars) don't have that bodily reaction.

ChaimtheGreat

As a Cigar smoker myself I enjoyed this question. To give some outside context, one does not inhale a cigar (as a usual rule). You get the taste of the cigar through the smoke in your mouth. Thus, there is not a high risk of lung cancer- the smoke never goes in your lungs. However, if someone who smoked cigarettes (where you do inhale) smoked a cigar differently than a traditional cigar smoker and brought the smoke into their lungs, then they would not experience a reduction in the possibility of lung cancer. That is the outside knowledge explanation.

The LSAT explanation is this: You have two groups doing x. Yet, these groups are getting different results. We are looking for something that might explain this difference. (E) says just because you do x does not mean you have to do it the same way with the same results. Lets give an example:

Person A lifts 100 pounds a week and drinks protein shakes. They gain a lot of healthy muscle.
Person B lifts 100 pounds a week without protein stimulants. They do not gain much.

They both did the same thing, but did it differently with different results (the protein shake represents the inhaling of the smoke).

wkim2015

thank you guys!