LSAT 117 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Coffee and tea contain methylxanthines …

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS:

1. Coffee and tea contain methylxanthines.
2. Methylxanthines → increases vasopressin → blood-cell clumping
3. Clumping is more pronounced in women.
4. Women face a much higher risk of complications following angioplasty.

ANALYSIS: If we were to put all of this into a chain (it’s not strictly a conditional reasoning diagram .. just for you to see how things progress):

Coffee/tea → more vasopressin → more clumping → women are especially susceptible → women have much higher complication rates after angioplasty.

So if you’re about to undergo angioplasty and you know that coffee and tea may increase a factor associated with complications, it is reasonable to infer that women should probably avoid them beforehand.

That’s not the same thing as saying coffee and tea cause angioplasty complications. That would be too strong.

___________

1. The stimulus never says methylxanthines are beneficial for men. At best, it suggests they may be more harmful for women.
2. We don’t know anything about alternative treatments for clogged arteries so there’s nothing to compare to.
3. If this were true, it might help explain why women face more complications (more tea → more vasopressin → more clumping). But we want something that the facts SUPPORT. There’s no indication in the stimulus that women drink more tea than men.
4. CORRECT. The evidence suggests that methylxanthines may increase blood-cell clumping and that women are particularly susceptible to complications following angioplasty. So women should probably avoid coffee and tea before the procedure.
5. Ridiculous. The stimulus is just discussing a possible explanation for why women experience more complications. “There may be complications to this life-saving surgery” so “Let’s ban this surgery!”?? That would be crazy!