LSAT 149 – Section 4 – Question 01

LSAT 149 - Section 4 - Question 01

December 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT149 S4 Q01
+LR
+Exp
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Net Effect +NetEff
A
6%
157
B
1%
152
C
91%
163
D
2%
159
E
0%
153
120
130
144
 +Easiest 147.325 +SubsectionMedium

Dentist: I recommend brushing one’s teeth after every meal to remove sugars that facilitate the growth of certain bacteria; these bacteria produce acid that dissolves minerals in tooth enamel, resulting in cavities. And when brushing is not practical, I recommend chewing gum—even gum that contains sugar—to prevent the formation of cavities.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

Why would chewing sugary gum after a meal help to prevent cavities when sugar is known to lead to the formation of cavities?

Objective

The right answer will be a hypothesis that explains why chewing gum after a meal helps to prevent the formation of cavities. That explanation must offer some dental hygiene benefit of chewing gum that has the potential to outweigh any damage that could be caused by the sugar in some gums.

A
A piece of chewing gum that contains sugar contains far less sugar than does the average meal.

We would expect this to be true—think of how small a piece of gum is! This answer doesn’t explain why chewing gum helps to prevent cavities, though, so it doesn’t reconcile the paradox in the stimulus.

B
Tooth decay can be stopped and reversed if it is caught before a cavity develops.

While this might be relieving to hear on a personal level, it doesn’t help to reconcile the paradox at hand. We need information about how chewing gum after meals helps to prevent cavities, and this answer choice doesn’t give us that.

C
Chewing gum stimulates the production of saliva, which reduces acidity in the mouth and helps remineralize tooth enamel.

This is helpful! Sugar leads to cavities because it causes enamel to dissolve, but chewing gum protects enamel. It makes sense, then, that chewing gum after meals helps to prevent cavities even if the gum contains some sugar.

D
Sugars can be on teeth for as long as 24 hours before the teeth-damaging bacteria whose growth they facilitate begin to proliferate.

This answer choice has nothing to do with the cavity-prevention benefits of chewing gum after meals, which is what we need the answer to explain!

E
Chewing gum exercises and relaxes the jaw muscles and so contributes to the overall health of the oral tract.

This answer doesn’t help because it has nothing to do with the impact that chewing gum has on cavity formation. The “overall health of the oral tract” could refer to factors other than cavities.

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LSAT PrepTest 149 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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