LSAT 131 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q14

LR Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: At one sitting, a typical doughnut eater consumes 4 doughnuts

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: There’s little difference between a typical doughnut eating session and a typical bagel eating session, in terms of calories.

REASONING: The typical doughnut eater eats four doughnuts. If eating bagels, you can raise calorie levels to the doughnut level if you add spreads.

ANALYSIS: This argument makes a common flaw. It discusses what can happen and assumes that that is typical.

People do this all the time. We usually don’t care about what’s possible in edge cases. Average outcomes are more important.

There’s one more flaw, which is the one in the correct answer: The author is assuming that the typical doughnut eater isn’t also adding things to their doughnuts that increase caloric intake.

___________

1. The conclusion said “as far as total calorie count is concerned.” So other health effects aren’t relevant.
2. The argument is about what happens, not what people know. You gain calories when you eat a spread, whether or not you know it.
3. The conclusion was only about calories. Health benefits aren’t relevant.
4. CORRECT. If this is true, then doughnut eaters will consume more calories – even if bagel eaters add spreads.
   Negation: The typical doughnut eater adds sauces to their doughnuts which add roughly 300 calories total.
5. This doesn’t matter. The conclusion is about what people eat at one sitting of doughnuts or bagels.