LSAT 132 – Section 4 – Question 26

LSAT 132 - Section 4 - Question 26

December 2010

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT132 S4 Q26
+LR
Except +Exc
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Sampling +Smpl
Math +Math
A
9%
160
B
7%
158
C
6%
157
D
73%
165
E
5%
157
144
154
164
 +Harder 146.238 +SubsectionMedium

Sociologist: A recent study of 5,000 individuals found, on the basis of a physical exam, that more than 25 percent of people older than 65 were malnourished, though only 12 percent of the people in this age group fell below government poverty standards. In contrast, a greater percentage of the people 65 or younger fell below poverty standards than were found in the study to be malnourished.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

People older than 65 are more likely to be malnourished than live in poverty, yet people younger than 65 are more likely to live in poverty than be malnourished.

Objective

The correct answer must offer an unsatisfactory hypothesis, one that fails to explain the differences between age groups. Every wrong answer, meanwhile, will resolve this discrepancy by stating a difference between people older than 65 and people younger than 65. This difference will result in a greater proportion of the older group being malnourished, a greater proportion of the younger group living in poverty, or both.

A
Doctors are less likely to correctly diagnose and treat malnutrition in their patients who are over 65 than in their younger patients.

This would explain the discrepancy. Younger people are more likely to live in poverty than be malnourished because they are more likely to receive treatment for malnourishment than older people.

B
People over 65 are more likely to take medications that increase their need for certain nutrients than are people 65 or younger.

This would explain the discrepancy. If people over 65 are more likely to need additional nutrients, their relative undernourishment is unsurprising.

C
People over 65 are more likely to suffer from loss of appetite due to medication than are people 65 or younger.

This would explain the discrepancy. If people over 65 are more likely to lose their appetite, they are likely to eat less and therefore be relatively undernourished.

D
People 65 or younger are no more likely to fall below government poverty standards than are people over 65.

This is a similarity between the groups and cannot explain their different outcomes. If people in both groups are equally likely to live in poverty, then people over 65 are more than twice as likely to be malnourished as people under 65, which is unexplained.

E
People 65 or younger are less likely to have medical conditions that interfere with their digestion than are people over 65.

This would explain the discrepancy. Younger people are more likely to have healthy digestion, making them more likely to fully absorb the nutrients in their food and thus less likely to be malnourished.

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LSAT PrepTest 132 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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