LSAT 72, Logical Reasoning II, Q5, LSATHacks

LR Question 5 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Safety expert: Tuna is often treated with carbon…

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox

PARADOX: Carbon monoxide disguises the color of tuna. Carbon monoxide can’t hurt people. Yet more people will get sick from tuna that is treated with carbon monoxide. 

ANALYSIS: Think broadly. When tuna is treated with carbon monoxide, two things happen:

1. The tuna has carbon monoxide on it.
2. The tuna won’t turn brown with age.

Our instinct is to suspect the first reason. Eww, chemicals. But the argument specifically rules out direct harm from carbon monoxide.

So it must be the second reason that harms people. There’s really no other possibility – color is the cause. I didn’t prephrase the precise answer, but I was looking for something to do with color.

Remember, your job is to explain why carbon monoxide seems to be causing harm even though it can’t cause harm directly. Most of the wrong answers just tell us random facts about tuna. On paradox questions, you always have to ask yourself if an answer explains the situation. 

___________

1. The stimulus was about people who eat tuna. Workers in tuna plants aren’t relevant.
2. This is just a random fact about how much tuna we eat. This doesn’t tell us why carbon monoxide seems to be causing harm. 
3. CORRECT. This clears things up. Carbon monoxide causes no direct harm. But it hides evidence that tuna has gone bad. And if you eat spoiled tuna, you can get very sick.
4. This is just a random fact. This doesn’t tell us why carbon monoxide seems to be making people sick even though it’s supposed to be safe.
5. This tells us why manufacturers use carbon monoxide. It doesn’t tell us why carbon monoxide seems to cause harm.

Hi, I'm Graeme Blake

Founder of LSAThacks; I scored a 177 on the LSAT.

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