LSAT 141 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q22

RC Question 22 Explanation

DISCUSSION: You’re not going to like hearing this, but if you got this question wrong it’s because you completely misunderstood the passage.

The third-to-last sentence of the first paragraph says the right answer. If you found those lines, then this was a very easy question.

All of the wrong answers assume you had no idea what experts believe and what laypeople believe.

This question illustrates why it’s extremely important to review a passage if you’re not clear on what it says. The wrong answers are designed to trick people who have only a partial understanding of what they read.

___________

1. The first sentence of the third paragraph directly contradicts this. Laypeople wouldn’t support saving skydivers even if there were a good ratio of dollars to lives saved.
2. Experts care about lives saved, not voluntariness. If laypeople deferred to experts, then laypeople wouldn’t care about voluntariness.
3. CORRECT. The second-to-last sentence of the first paragraph says this directly.
4. The second-to-last sentence of the first paragraph says that this is what experts focus on.
5. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph says that this is what the author recommends the government consider. Total resources available wasn’t mentioned as a factor that laypeople consider.