LSAT 116 | Section 4 | Reading Comprehension: Q21

RC Question 21 Explanation

DISCUSSION: The author is criticizing the scientists. They have ignored wine’s health potential, even though folk wisdom knew about wine’s health benefits.

The author isn’t claiming that science is always wrong or tradition is always right. But in this case, tradition seems to be correct. Of course, it’s new science that ultimately proves the argument.

___________

1. Often? We only have one example: wine.
2. Popular beliefs didn’t say why wine was healthy or what health effects it had. This is way off base. 
3. If this were true then the author probably would have mentioned traditional beliefs in the rest of the passage. Instead, paragraphs two and three only mentioned scientific evidence. 
4. CORRECT. We assume science is generally correct, but here, folk wisdom hints it’s wrong. The author was criticizing scientists, and he wouldn’t have mentioned the old belief unless he agreed with it. 
5. In this passage, the popular belief shows science is misguided. It’s the opposite of this answer choice.