LSAT 130 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q9

LR Question 9 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: People who need to reduce their intake of fat and to consume

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: N5 doesn’t help people who want to eat less fat and fewer calories.

REASONING: People who ate foods with N5 felt hungrier, and then ate more. They end up eating as many calories as those who eat fat do.

ANALYSIS: The argument refers to people with two goals:

Eat less fat.

Eat fewer calories.

The argument then only gives evidence that N5 fails the second goal. But maybe those eating N5 still eat less fat. That would be a partial success.

(Incidentally, research now indicates that dietary fat is not a problem.)

___________

1. So? This stimulus is only talking about the effect of foods that can be prepared with N5.
2. So? Many people on a diet are usually prepared to tolerate some mild discomfort. This has nothing to do with calorie and fat intake.
3. So? The author is only talking about people who are trying to reduce their calories.
4. Well duh. If you’re trying to reduce calories, you’re more likely to eat N5 if you know it has none. Why would you eat it if you didn’t know that?
   Failing to consider this isn’t a flaw. This is an obvious statement, and the author said nothing to contradict it. They’re only talking about people who do eat N5.
5. CORRECT. If this is true, then eating N5 is a partial success. It fails the calorie goal, but it does succeed at reducing fat. The conclusion was that N5 was “of no use.” This answer shows that isn’t true.