LSAT 8 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q13

LR Question 13 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Five years ago, during the first North American outbreak…

QUESTION TYPE: Weaken

CONCLUSION: The disease CXC has gotten more deadly.

REASONING: Now, 18% of reported cases result in death. Previously (when the disease first occurred) only 5% of reported cases led to death.

ANALYSIS: The key here is that we are only talking about reported cases. It could be that only the deadliest cases are now being reported.

It doesn’t usually matter if you don’t know words such as virulence. It means strong or deadly (in the case of a disease.) Some people just know the word. But you could also figure that out by looking at the death rate (it increased.) If an increase in the death rate means that something is virulent, then virulent must mean deadly.

___________

1. This shows that some deaths that ought to have been reported as CXC were actually reported as another disease. If these had been correctly reported as CXC then the death rate would have been higher (strengthening the argument.)
2. This means that the death rate should have been lower in the past. This strengthens the argument by showing that the increase in the death rate was even larger.
3. This tells us how people are responding to CXC. But it doesn’t weaken the argument that the disease has gotten deadlier.
4. CORRECT. This shows that only deadly cases are getting reported. That means that the death rate in reported cases goes up even though the overall death rate doesn’t (because mild cases aren’t getting reported.)
5. This tells us that the population of cows getting sick includes practically only cows that have never previously been infected. This doesn’t weaken the argument that the disease has gotten deadlier.

Recap: The question begins with “Five years ago, during the first North American outbreak”. It is a Weaken question. Learn how to master LSAT Weaken questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.