LR Question 8 Explanation, by LSATHacks
QUESTION TEXT: A recent study shows that those highways…
QUESTION TYPE: Paradox
FACTS: Congested highways have the lowest fatal accident rate.
ANALYSIS: Think of any real, congested highway you’ve been on. Things tend to move slowly. And it’s hard to have a major accident when traffic doesn’t move. It helps to think through situations based on your real life experiences, as long as you don’t contradict anything from the question.
___________
- People seem more likely to be bored and distracted on a congested road, so this adds to the confusion.
- This is consistent with the stimulus, but it doesn’t explain anything. We already knew that non-congested roads have more accidents than congested roads.
- Does commuting make you more or less likely to have an accident? I have no idea, and this doesn’t say.
- CORRECT. Congested roads move slowly. So this tells us that they’ll have a lower rate of serious accidents, at least, since serious accidents require speed.
- “Do not always carry” more trucks? That’s impossibly vague. I don’t know if that means 2% of the time or 99% of the time.
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Graeme, this stimulus talks about the lowest rate of fatal traffic accidents, not all traffic accidents, so in fact D is a very strong choice considering fatal is similar to serious while only B mentions fatal or serious accidents and B is clearly wrong.
Thanks for your comment. I’m not sure why you’re focussing on B – I don’t think it’s a good answer. Being consistent with the stimulus is not impressive. The statement “ducks eat bread” is also consistent with the stimulus. Consistent just means “does not contradict”. But since we’re looking for something that explains the paradox, B is not useful.
The reason I say D is weak is that though serious is similar to fatal, it’s definitely not the same as. And these distinctions usually matter on the LSAT. But it’s still the right answer because D most helps to explain the stimulus, even though it would be stronger if it said fatal.