LSAT 116 – Section 3 – Question 08

LSAT 116 - Section 3 - Question 08

June 2004

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT116 S3 Q08
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Net Effect +NetEff
A
0%
152
B
6%
157
C
89%
164
D
2%
156
E
3%
155
128
139
151
 +Easier 146.244 +SubsectionMedium

Studies suggest that, for the vast majority of people who have normal blood pressure, any amount of sodium greater than that required by the body is simply excreted and does not significantly raise blood pressure. So only persons who have high blood pressure and whose bodies are incapable of safely processing excess sodium need to restrict their sodium intake.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that the only people who need to reduce their sodium intake are those who have high blood pressure and whose bodies can’t process extra sodium. As support, the author references studies that show that for the majority of people who have normal blood pressure, any extra sodium is just excreted from the body and doesn’t cause an increase in blood pressure.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that, because the excess sodium is excreted and doesn’t impact blood pressure, it doesn’t have any detrimental impacts on the body. There could be other negative impacts of the excess sodium that occur before it’s excreted.

A
High blood pressure is more harmful than was previously believed.
This is irrelevant to the argument because, for most people, excess sodium doesn’t significantly raise blood pressure. The argument already says that those with high blood pressure need to restrict their sodium intake.
B
High blood pressure is sometimes exacerbated by intake of more sodium than the body requires.
This is not inconsistent with the argument; we know that for the “vast majority,” excess sodium doesn’t significantly raise blood pressure, but the argument allows that this isn’t the case for everyone.
C
Excess sodium intake over time often destroys the body’s ability to process excess sodium.
(C) shows how excess sodium intake can be detrimental even though the excess sodium is excreted and doesn’t significantly raise blood pressure. This weakens the argument that only those with high blood pressure and who can’t process extra sodium need to restrict sodium intake.
D
Every human being has a physiological need for at least some sodium.
The argument is about excess sodium intake, so this is irrelevant.
E
Any sodium not used by the body will increase blood pressure unless it is excreted.
(E) tells us that if sodium is not used by the body and is not excreted, then it will increase blood pressure. This is consistent with the argument. For the vast majority of people, sodium that is not used is simply excreted.

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LSAT PrepTest 116 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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