LSAT 27, Logical Reasoning I, Q2, LSATHacks

LR Question 2 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Although 90 percent of the population believes itself…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: At least 80% of the public can’t make good health care choices.

REASONING: 80% of the public doesn’t know enough about DNA to understand a news story on DNA.

ANALYSIS: This is a bad argument. DNA is pretty complicated. It might be possible to make good health care choices even if you don’t know about DNA.

___________

1. The author didn’t say that the 20% who understand DNA can make good choices. The conclusion said “at least 80%” – perhaps the other 20% make bad choices too.
2. The author never said what’s required for good public health decisions. He just said at least 80% of people couldn’t make good public health decisions.
3. The author didn’t say that there was any relation between these two things. Instead, the author said that poor knowledge of DNA leads to bad choices in both areas.
4. CORRECT. If this isn’t true, then the public might be able to make good choices even if they don’t understand DNA.
5. The author never said how many people are mistaken. The 90% was just fluff, it wasn’t important to the argument.

Recap: The question begins with “Although 90 percent of the population believes itself”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.

Hi, I'm Graeme Blake

Founder of LSAThacks; I scored a 177 on the LSAT.

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