LSAT 115 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q4

LR Question 4 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Among North American school-age children, there is…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: Interactive television will lead to more obesity among North American school-age children.

REASONING: Because there is a strong correlation between obesity and the amount of television children watch.

ANALYSIS: I’m not even sure what interactive television is. It’s a necessary assumption that children will actually watch more television as a result.

Note that this question only establishes a correlation between watching television and obesity, not causation.

___________

1. Television is a sedentary activity. But even if diet were a more important cause, this argument could still be true.
2. Not necessary. For example: maybe they improved their diets at the same time (thus keeping obesity constant), but they won’t do so now.
3. Even if genetics did make a significant contribution, environmental factors such as how much TV a child watches are still a necessary cause of obesity. No one gets fat only because of genetics.
4. CORRECT. If they don’t, the argument is worthless. They have no other proposed cause apart from TV to suggest obesity will increase.
5. Even if it is only available in 40% of homes, it could still lead to more obesity.

Recap: The question begins with “Among North American school-age children, there is”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn more about LSAT Necessary questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.