LSAT 29, Logical Reasoning I, Q6, LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: These days, drug companies and health professionals…

QUESTION TYPE: Must be True

FACTS: 

1. More cholesterol in the blood leads to a higher risk of heart attack.
2. Heart disease is the biggest killer in North America.
3. At least three factors (smoking, drinking and exercise) can influence blood cholesterol.

ANALYSIS: This is a great question that shows how tricky the LSAT can be.

Two of the wrong answer choices talk about smoking increasing the risk of heart disease. Many people will nod their heads at those answer choices even if they don’t pick them. 

But the stimulus didn’t say what smoking did. It may even lower cholesterol. We assume smoking is bad, but the stimulus did not tell us whether smoking is actually bad. 

This is one of the big tricks the LSAT uses. Subtle language causes you to think of outside knowledge and make incorrect assumptions. 

___________

1. We don’t know this. Risk may be lower. But it isn’t necessarily “low.” 
2. Technically this stimulus doesn’t say what smoking does to cholesterol. Maybe it lowers it. This answer choice is trying to trick you by playing on outside assumptions.
3. This is tempting but doesn’t have to be true. We only know that cholesterol is a risk factor. There could be other risk factors that are much more harmful and cause more death.
4. The stimulus did not say that smoking was bad. If you think it did, read it again. This is a classic example of how the LSAT can trick you. 
5. CORRECT. If you change one of the three factors you’ll change your cholesterol. That in turn changes your risk of heart disease. Those three factors are part of our lifestyle.

LawHub Order

LawHub Order

---