LSAT 41, Logical Reasoning II, Q17, LSATHacks

LR Question 17 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Reporter: A team of scientists has recently devised a new test…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: Autistic children can benefit from treatment earlier in life.

REASONING: A new test exists, which for the first time can accurately diagnose autism in children as young as 18 months old.

___________

1. No accurate test would have been a necessary assumption, but it’s quite possible (inaccurate) tests existed.
2. CORRECT. Yes. If this weren’t true, the conclusion is worthless, because the test does give false positives.
3. Not necessary, the test only claims to diagnose children 18 months old.
4. This may sound cruel, but the conclusion wasn’t concerned with the non-autistic, falsely identified children. They could be scarred for life and the conclusion about autistic children could still be correct.
5. There could have been reliable evidence, yet still no accurate means of diagnosis.

Recap: The question begins with “Reporter: A team of scientists has recently devised a new test”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn how to master LSAT Necessary questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.

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