LSAT 2 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q14

LR Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The “suicide wave” that followed the United States stock…

QUESTION TYPE: Weaken

CONCLUSION: The suicide wave following the October 1929 crash was largely a myth.

REASONING: Suicides were higher in the months preceding the crash, when the market was flourishing.

ANALYSIS: It is well known to the scientists who study suicides that they exhibit predictable seasonal variations. It is not very useful to compare December to July. It is much better to compare October to the October from the year before and the year after.

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1. Of course the suicide rate is influence by many factors. This does not in any way weaken the argument that the stock market crash did not have a big effect.
2. This strengthens the argument, since it is even stranger that the suicide rate was low.
3. CORRECT. If suicides in October and November 1929 were higher than in a typical October or November then the argument is weakened. It is better to compare to the same month in another year than to another month in the same year.
4. This also strengthens the argument, since in this case suicide rates were lower near the end of 1929.
5. This is relevant, but it doesn’t weaken the argument unless we also know that October suicides would generally be lower due to those same seasonal variations.

Recap: The question begins with “The “suicide wave” that followed the United States stock”. It is a Weaken question. Learn more about LSAT Weaken questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.