LSAT 154 – Section 4 – Question 03

LSAT 154 - Section 4 - Question 03

September 2017

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Request new explanation

Target time: 0:49

This is question data from the 7Sage LSAT Scorer. You can score your LSATs, track your results, and analyze your performance with pretty charts and vital statistics - all with a Free Account ← sign up in less than 10 seconds

Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT154 S4 Q03
+LR
Strengthen +Streng
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Sampling +Smpl
A
0%
138
B
96%
163
C
1%
152
D
0%
152
E
2%
154
120
127
138
 +Easiest 147.301 +SubsectionMedium

Audiologist: What is often considered age-related hearing loss is really the accumulated damage of long-term exposure to loud noise. This is demonstrated by studies of remote populations, who have little exposure to loud noise. These studies found that age-related hearing loss in these populations was limited or nonexistent.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The audiologist hypothesizes that age-related hearing loss is actually caused by long-term exposure to loud noise, rather than by age itself. He supports this by citing studies of remote populations with little exposure to loud noise and no significant age-related hearing loss.

Notable Assumptions
The audiologist assumes that the studies of remote populations can be generalized to apply to all people. He also assumes that long-term exposure to loud noise is the only major cause of age-related hearing loss, and that the lack of such exposure is the only reason remote populations don't have age-related hearing loss. He overlooks any other factors that may contribute to the presence of absence age-related hearing loss.

A
Ancient medical texts describe methods of treating hearing loss.
We have no connection between the remote populations in the studies and the source of these “ancient medical texts.” But even if we did, the audiologist doesn’t claim that the remote populations have no hearing loss at all, just that they don’t have age-related hearing loss.
B
Among remote populations, those people who lived for several years in urban areas show more age-related hearing loss than those who have always lived in remote areas.
This strengthens the hypothesis that age-related hearing loss is caused by exposure to loud noise. The fact that people from remote populations had more hearing loss after living in cities suggests that the noise in cities, not another factor, likely caused the hearing loss.
C
Those who live in urban areas typically become so accustomed to low-level background noise that they are unaware they are hearing it.
The argument addresses long-term exposure to “loud noise,” not “low-level background noise.” Even so, whether or not someone is aware of noise exposure doesn't change its effect on that person’s hearing.
D
Age-related hearing loss can make it difficult for people to participate in conversations that occur in social settings with more than two or three people.
The audiologist only addresses the cause of age-related hearing loss. He doesn’t discuss any consequences of age-related hearing loss.
E
Those who work in environments in which they are regularly exposed to loud noise tend not to wear ear protection unless they are required to.
(E) tells us nothing about the amount of hearing loss experienced by people who are regularly exposed to loud noise and choose not to wear ear protection. Thus, it has not impact on the audiologist’s argument either way.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 154 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply