LSAT 138 – Section 2 – Question 07

LSAT 138 - Section 2 - Question 07

December 2012

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT138 S2 Q07
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Lack of Support v. False Conclusion +LSvFC
A
0%
157
B
95%
164
C
0%
151
D
0%
149
E
4%
156
126
135
144
 +Easier 147.395 +SubsectionMedium

Several companies that make herbal teas containing ginseng assert in their marketing that ginseng counteracts the effects of stress. As a result, many people buy these products hoping to improve their health. Yet no definitive scientific study links ginseng with the relief of stress. Thus, these marketing campaigns make false claims.

Summarize Argument
The author claims that ginseng does not relieve stress because there haven’t been any scientific studies to conclusively prove that it has this effect.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The argument is flawed because it fails to provide any support for the claim that ginseng does not alleviate the effects of stress. The author only cites the fact that there aren’t studies that verify that it does, but that only leaves the question unanswered. The fact that a study hasn’t proven ginseng to have this effect does not prove that ginseng definitely does not have it. Ginseng could relieve stress even if there hasn’t yet been a good study proving it.

A
rejects an argument because of its source without evaluating the argument’s logical strength
The argument doesn’t attack the companies themselves; it only rejects their claims.
B
concludes that a claim is false merely on the grounds that it has not been shown to be true
This describes how the author mistakenly rejects a claim as untrue despite only citing the fact that scientific studies haven’t yet verified it.
C
draws an inference on the basis of a sample that is likely to be unrepresentative
The argument doesn’t draw an inference from a sample, but instead cites a claim’s lack of definitive evidence. The issue is that this doesn’t prove the claim to be untrue.
D
fails to address the possibility that many people buy herbal teas containing ginseng because they enjoy drinking the tea
This is irrelevant. The author only claims that ginseng doesn’t relieve stress, so people’s reason for drinking tea doesn’t matter.
E
fails to address the possibility that some ingredients other than ginseng in the herbal teas containing ginseng counteract the effects of stress
The author only rejects the companies’ claims that “ginseng counteracts the effects of stress”, so it wouldn’t matter if any other ingredient does.

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LSAT PrepTest 138 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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