LSAT 152 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: A study found that most of the strokes diagnosed by doctors …

QUESTION TYPE: Complete the Argument

ANALYSIS: Most diagnosed strokes are in the left side of the brain. The author then concludes that right-side strokes are more likely to go undiagnosed.

We need to provide the reasoning to support this conclusion and complete the argument.

What information would help to determine the likelihood of diagnosis? How many strokes happen on each side.

If roughly the same number of strokes happen on each side, and there’s still way more diagnosed strokes on the left side, then it makes sense that right-side strokes are more likely to go undiagnosed.

___________

1. Irrelevant. Other health problems tell us nothing about whether right-side strokes are being missed more often.
2. CORRECT. This is what the argument needs. If strokes occur equally often on both sides, but diagnosed strokes are mostly left-side, then the imbalance suggests right-side strokes are being missed.
3. Too general. Variation in doctors’ skills doesn’t help explain the disparity, unless somehow almost everyone who has right-side strokes goes to the bad doctors. That would be crazy.
4. Different symptoms don’t by themselves explain why they’re going undiagnosed.
5. This concerns underdiagnosis generally, but not whether right-side strokes are missed more often compared to left-side.