LSAT 126 – Section 3 – Question 22

LSAT 126 - Section 3 - Question 22

October 2008

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT126 S3 Q22
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
62%
164
B
22%
160
C
6%
159
D
5%
157
E
4%
158
145
157
169
 +Harder 144.364 +SubsectionEasier

In a study, one group of volunteers was fed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet; another group was fed a low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet. Both diets contained the same number of calories, and each volunteer’s diet prior to the experiment had contained moderate levels of proteins and carbohydrates. After ten days, those on the low-carbohydrate diet had lost more weight than those on the high-carbohydrate diet. Thus, the most effective way to lose body fat is to eat much protein and shun carbohydrates.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that the most effective way to lose body fat is by eating high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. Her evidence is a study that shows volunteers who hate high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets lost more weight after ten days than those eating low-protein, high-carbohydrate diets.

Notable Assumptions
By concluding that people should “eat protein and shun carbohydrates” in order to lose body fat, the author assumes that there’s no middle-ground where one eats both protein and carbohydrates in moderation. She also assumes that all other relevant factors (i.e. exercise, sleep) were relevant between the groups during the study. Finally, the author assumes that losing weight is the same thing as losing body fat.

A
A low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet causes the human body to retain water, the added weight of which largely compensates for the weight of any body fat lost, whereas a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet does not.
The low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet increases water retention, to the extent that the retained water compensates in total weight for any loss of body fat. Thus, the author can’t conclude that the high-protein group lost more body fat than the other group.
B
Many people who consume large quantities of protein nevertheless gain significant amounts of body fat.
We’re talking people on calorie-restricted diets. We don’t care how high-protein diets work out in calorie excess.
C
A high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet will often enable the human body to convert some body fat into muscle, without causing any significant overall weight loss.
Regardless of the other effects of a high-protein diet, we don’t really care about body composition. We need to know weaken the idea that high-protein diets are best for fat loss.
D
In the experiment, the volunteers on the high-carbohydrate diet engaged in regular exercise of a kind known to produce weight loss, and those on the low-carbohydrate diet did not.
If anything, this supports the author’s argument. The high-carbohydrate volunteers were exercising and yet still didn’t lose as much weight as the high-protein volunteers.
E
Many of the volunteers who had been on the low-carbohydrate diet eventually regained much of the weight they had lost on the diet after returning to their normal diets.
It doesn’t matter what happened once they returned to their usual diets. We’re concerned about how the diets affected their body fat loss.

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LSAT PrepTest 126 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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