LSAT 159 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q4

LR Question 4 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: A process of extracting caffeine from coffee without …

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox

PARADOX: They tried to extract caffeine from coffee without compromising the taste. But many coffee drinkers reported that it tasted bad.

ANALYSIS: The question we have to answer is this: why did early decaf coffee taste bad even though a process was made to decaffeinate the coffee without seriously worsening its taste.

Worsening is a relative word. Whereas if coffee tastes bad, that is an absolute word. The situation very subtly switched between the two.

You can read more about absolute and relative on the LSAT here: https://lsathacks.com/absolute-relative/

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1. The stimulus is very specific. We only have to explain why the decaf coffee tasted bad to the particular set of people who drank it then.
    
   You might have picked this thinking “what if there was sample bias” or something like that, but you can’t choose an answer on a possibility. This answer gives no hint of sample bias.
2. This answer is about people who do not and would not drink decaf coffee. But, the stimulus is about different people, the people who did drink decaf coffee. We only care about explaining the experience of this latter group.
3. Like A, you can’t choose an answer for a possibility. We have no indication that the coffee tasted bad because it was consumed with something else.
    
   This answer also doesn’t say coffee tastes bad when it is consumed along with food. It just says the taste can be affected. That can be good or bad or even fairly neutral.
4. The LSAT is ultra specific. This question is about taste, and only about taste. Cost doesn’t affect taste.
5. CORRECT. This explains things. The beans used to make the decaf coffee were low quality and coffee made from them tasted bad. The process didn’t worsen the taste of the coffee, but the coffee made from the process was nonetheless bad because of the low quality beans.
    
   (It is reasonable to believe that low quality beans taste bad. That is the very definition of low quality when it comes to coffee beans. That they taste bad, have a bad texture, etc.)