P22.S4.Q12 - most adults in country x

megsvyas_OVOmegsvyas_OVO Alum Member
edited January 2016 in Logical Reasoning 218 karma
http://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-22-section-4-question-12/
This was confusing! Adults in Country X consume an increasing amount of fat as they grow older, but the percentage of fat in their diet stays the same throughout adult life. Initially, I approached the answer choices thinking: "okay, this is answer going to disqualify a misconception on numbers and percentages" or something along those lines. However, I didn't find this to be the case. The answer is (B), and it says that they generally EAT MORE when they are older than they did in their earlier adult life. I can't help but think, "uh, we don't really know this, do we?" Yes, they might EAT MORE (meaning the quantity might be more), but what does that have to do with them maintaining the percentage of fat in their body? I mean it could technically have no effect, right? Help, please! :)

Comments

  • c.janson35c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    2398 karma
    This is a MSS question type, so we are looking for an answer that has a high level of support. The 4 incorrect answer choices will likely have absolutely no support. This is helpful for us because we can quickly eliminate these unsupported AC.

    The argument is a set of facts, and it is tough to prephrase the answer here. I personally thought it was a shoe-in that the question was going to test our knowledge of valid argument structures (combining two most statements with the same "sufficient" side variable produces a some statement because of necessary overlap within the "necessary" side characteristics)....but they didn't ask this of us, so :(.

    Let's dive into the answers.

    A: we do not know anything about the adults of other countries. Eliminate.

    B: seems like a winner! How could people consume an increasing amount of fat, yet that percentage of fat remains constant? Mathematically, it has to be that they are consuming more total food to keep this ratio constant, or the percentage of fat of one's diet would increase.

    C: we don't know anything about the diets of children in X, only about the diets of adults. Eliminate.

    D: varied kinds of foods? We don't know anything about the kinds of foods they eat in X. Eliminate.

    E: we don't know anything about their weight. Percentage of fat in one's diet is not necessarily indicative of weight. Eliminate.
  • megsvyas_OVOmegsvyas_OVO Alum Member
    218 karma
    @c.janson35 thank you!
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