LSAT 107 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Newsletter for community center volunteers: Retired…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Volunteering helps old people stay in better health.

REASONING: Elderly volunteers tend to be healthier than non-volunteers.

ANALYSIS: This argument confuses correlation with causation. It could be that better health makes people more likely to volunteer.

Few people feel like helping others if they (literally) can’t get out of bed.

___________

1. For all we know, the newsletter believes what it says. We have to judge arguments based on reasoning, not motives.
2. Those all sound like factors that should be included in well-being. If my “overall functioning” is good, then presumably I’m doing pretty well.
3. The argument’s point is that whatever your age is, you’ll be healthier if you volunteer.
4. It’s true that the argument implies that a change in mental outlook is one of the effects of aging that volunteering can reverse. But the argument never said that every person will have a changed outlook when they age.
    
   Even if the argument had assumed this, it wouldn’t have affected the conclusion. It’s a minor part of the evidence.
5. CORRECT. It’s easier to volunteer if you are in good health.

Recap: The question begins with “Newsletter for community center volunteers: Retired”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.