LSAT 140 – Section 1 – Question 24

LSAT 140 - Section 1 - Question 24

December 2013

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT140 S1 Q24
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Net Effect +NetEff
A
0%
155
B
4%
158
C
7%
159
D
2%
155
E
87%
166
138
147
156
 +Medium 148.137 +SubsectionMedium

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Pediatrician: Swollen tonsils give rise to breathing problems during sleep, and the surgical removal of children’s swollen tonsils has been shown to alleviate sleep disturbances. So removing children’s tonsils before swelling even occurs will ensure that the children do not experience any breathing problems during sleep.

Summarize Argument

The pediatrician concludes that removing children’s tonsils before they swell will prevent all breathing problems during sleep. She supports this by saying that swollen tonsils cause breathing problems during sleep, and removing them alleviates sleep disturbances.

Identify and Describe Flaw

The pediatrician assumes that swollen tonsils are the only cause of breathing problems during sleep, ignoring other possible causes like asthma or allergies. If these other issues are involved, removing tonsils might not ensure that children don’t experience any breathing problems during sleep.

A
relies on an inappropriate appeal to authority

The pediatrician doesn’t rely on an appeal to authority at all. She notes that removing tonsils “has been shown” to alleviate sleep issues, but we don’t know that this is an appeal to authority and we certainly can’t assume that it’s an inappropriate one.

B
relies on an assumption that is tantamount to assuming that the conclusion is true

This is the cookie-cutter flaw of circular reasoning, where the argument assumes what it sets out to prove. The pediatrician doesn't make this mistake. She provides distinct premises to support her conclusion.

C
infers from the fact that an action has a certain effect that the action is intended to produce that effect

The pediatrician states that tonsil removal alleviates breathing issues during sleep, but she doesn't conclude that tonsil removal is intended to alleviate these issues. Instead, she concludes that it will alleviate all breathing problems during sleep.

D
fails to consider the possibility that there may be other medical reasons for surgically removing a child’s tonsils

The pediatrician doesn’t assume that alleviating breathing issues during sleep is the only reason to remove children’s tonsils. Instead, she assumes that swollen tonsils are the only cause of these breathing issues.

E
fails to consider the possibility that some breathing problems during sleep may be caused by something other than swollen tonsils

The pediatrician assumes that swollen tonsils are the only cause of the breathing problems, without considering other potential causes like allergies or asthma. If there are other causes, tonsil removal might not ensure that children don’t experience any breathing problems.

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LSAT PrepTest 140 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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