LSAT 151 – Section 3 – Question 20

LSAT 151 - Section 3 - Question 20

September 2018

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT151 S3 Q20
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
30%
158
B
2%
153
C
3%
155
D
65%
163
E
0%
156
143
154
165
 +Harder 146.292 +SubsectionMedium

The level of triglycerides in the blood rises when triglycerides are inadequately metabolized. Research shows that patients with blood triglyceride levels above 1 milligram per milliliter are twice as prone to heart attacks as others. Thus, it is likely that consuming large amounts of fat, processed sugar, or alcohol, each known to increase triglyceride levels in the blood, is a factor causing heart disease.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author concludes that eating lots of fat, processed sugar, or alcohol, can contribute to heart disease. This is based on the fact that these things increase blood triglyceride levels, and the hypothesis that higher blood triglyceride increases the risk of heart disease. This hypothesis is based on research that shows a correlation between blood triglyceride levels above 1 milligram per millileter and higher likelihood of heart attacks.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that there’s no other explanation for the correlation observed betwen blood triglyceride levels and heart attacks. The author also assumes that there aren’t other things in fat, processed sugar, and alcohol that tend to decrease the risk of heart attacks.

A
People with a high-fat diet who engage in regular, vigorous physical activity are much less likely to develop heart disease than are sedentary people with a low-fat diet.
This suggests physical activity is also a causal factor in heart disease. But this doesn’t suggest high fat consumption isn’t also a causal factor. (A) could have been correct if we knew that people with high blood triglyceride on average exercise a less than others.
B
Triglyceride levels above 2 milligrams per milliliter increase the risk of some serious illnesses not related to heart disease.
Other diseases aren’t relevant to whether triglyceride levels are a causal factor in heart disease.
C
Shortly after a person ceases to regularly consume alcohol and processed sugar, that person’s triglyceride levels drop dramatically.
This strengthens the connection between consumption of alcohol/sugar and triglyceride. This is consistent with the author’s reasoning.
D
Heart disease interferes with the body’s ability to metabolize triglycerides.
This suggests an alternate explanation for the correlation between higher blood triglyceride levels and heart attacks. If heart disease interferes with triglyceride metabolization, it would lead to higher blood triglyceride. This suggests the cause and effect could be reversed.
E
People who maintain strict regimens for their health tend to adopt low-fat diets and to avoid alcohol and processed sugar.
This has no impact, because we don’t know whether the people on these low-fat and low-sugar diets are more or less likely than others to have heart attacks.

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LSAT PrepTest 151 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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