LSAT 129 – Section 1 – Question 21

LSAT 129 - Section 1 - Question 21

June 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT129 S1 Q21
+LR
+Exp
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
A
6%
161
B
16%
160
C
9%
158
D
2%
153
E
67%
165
143
155
166
 +Harder 146.023 +SubsectionMedium

Several people came down with an illness caused by a type of bacteria in seafood. Health officials traced the history of each person who became ill to the same restaurant and date. Careful testing showed that most people who ate seafood at the restaurant on that date had not come in contact with the bacteria in question. Despite this finding, health officials remained confident that contaminated seafood from this restaurant caused the cases of illness.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Most people who ate seafood at a restaurant didn’t come into contact with the offending bacteria, yet health officials are certain the bacteria caused several cases of illness.

Objective
The right answer will be a hypothesis that explains how health experts can be certain the bacteria caused the illness, despite most people who ate seafood at the restaurant not coming into contact with the bacteria. The explanation must result in only the people who ended up getting sick coming into contact with the bacteria.

A
Most people are immune to the effects of the bacteria in question.
We need something that tells us about the people who ended up getting sick. This tells us about most people in general.
B
Those made ill by the bacteria had all been served by a waiter who subsequently became ill.
Did the waiter come into contact with the bacteria? Did the waiter get sick because of the bacteria, or for some other reason? Besides, we already know the bacteria was carried by contaminated seafood.
C
All and only those who ate contaminated seafood at the restaurant on that date were allergic to the monosodium glutamate in a sauce that they used.
This doesn’t explain why health experts are confident the bacteria was the problem. This simply gives another reason some people might’ve fallen ill.
D
The restaurant in question had recently been given a warning about violations of health regulations.
We already know the restaurant is serving contaminated food. We don’t need to double down.
E
All and only those who ate a particular seafood dish at the restaurant contracted the illness.
Why did only some, but not all, people who ate seafood at the restaurant fall ill? Because those people who fell ill all ate a contaminated seafood dish that carried the bacteria.

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LSAT PrepTest 129 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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