LSAT 106 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q26

LR Question 26 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Smoking in bed has long been the main cause of home…

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox – Exception

CONCLUSION: Smoking in bed causes most fires in houses. But the number of deaths hasn’t gone down much even though smoking has declined.

ANALYSIS: There isn’t much to say about paradox exception questions. Just ask yourself this question for each answer choice: will this explain why the number of deaths has stayed the same even though smoking has increased?

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1. This shows that even though smoking causes most fires, those fires hardly kill anybody. So we wouldn’t expect a decline in deaths even if smoking fires decline.
2. CORRECT. This tends to show that fires caused by smoking are dangerous. This makes it strange that deaths haven’t decline as smoking has declined.
3. Most of the smokers who quit aren’t those who smoke in bed and cause fires. So the number of fires won’t have decreased.
4. This shows that even though smoking fires decreased, more people were killed in kitchen fires. That could explain why the number of deaths from fires stayed the same. One cause declined and another increased.
5. Even a smaller amount of smoking fires could lead to more deaths if more people live in each home.

Recap: The question begins with “Smoking in bed has long been the main cause of home”. It is a Paradox question. Learn more about LSAT Paradox questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.