LSAT 134 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q18

LR Question 18 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Journalist: Recent studies have demonstrated that a regular smoker …

QUESTION TYPE: Must Be False

FACTS:

• A regular smoker who has just smoked usually has better short-term memory than a nonsmoker. It doesn’t matter whether the nonsmoker also smoked.
• Most smokers who show this advantage have it for at least 8 hours after their last cigarette.

ANALYSIS: Four answers could be true based on the stimulus. One answer has to be false because it directly contradicts what we’re told.

So, don’t overthink it and just keep track of the facts.

All we know is:

• Regular smoker who has just smoked has better short-term memory than a nonsmoker
• It doesn’t matter whether the nonsmoker also smoked
• If you have this advantage, it usually lasts for at least 8 hours after the last cigarette

That’s it. We know nothing else about how smoking affects nonsmokers, what happens after more than eight hours, etc.

___________

1. The stimulus never compares one nonsmoker to another. Maybe smoking hurts a nonsmoker’s memory, maybe it doesn’t. Both are consistent with what we’re told.
2. CORRECT. This directly contradicts the first sentence. The stimulus tells us that a regular smoker who has just smoked typically performs better than a nonsmoker, whether or not that nonsmoker has also just smoked. This answer says the opposite, so it can’t be true.
3. We only know that the advantage lasts for at least 8 hours for most smokers who have it. We know nothing about what happens after 8+ hours. By then, the advantage could be gone so this is possible.
4. The stimulus says a regular smoker typically performs better than a nonsmoker. “Typically” allows exceptions. This answer could simply be describing one of those exceptions.
5. The advantage usually lasts at least 8 hours, but we don’t know that memory is highest immediately after smoking. It’s possible that the effect peaks several hours later. Nothing in the stimulus rules that out.