LSAT 8 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q5

LR Question 5 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: A person can develop or outgrow asthma at any age…

QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption

FACTS: Of children under ten, a higher percentage of boys than girls have asthma. Boys outgrow asthma at a lower rate than girls. Yet the percentage of adolescent boys and girls is equal because adolescent girls develop asthma in higher number.

ANALYSIS: This question plays on our unstated assumption that the number of adolescent boys and girls is typically equal. In most societies boys and girls exist in equal ratios. But the stimulus doesn’t actually tell us this is true.

This question also plays on the difference between percentage/rate and number. If ten boys out of 100 have asthma then that is a 10% rate. If 50 girls out of a thousand have asthma then that is a 5% rate. Yet the number of girls is higher: 50.

___________

1. We care about how many children have asthma, not how they got it.
2. We care about the total number by adolescence. It doesn’t matter how likely any particular age group is to outgrow asthma.
3. CORRECT. Yes. Adolescent boys and girls have asthma in equal ratios. If their numbers are also equal then the number of each group with asthma must be about equal.
4. We don’t care about the causes of asthma. We care about the number of people who have it for whatever reason.
5. We don’t care about adults. We only care about adolescents.

Recap: The question begins with “A person can develop or outgrow asthma at any age”. It is a Sufficient Assumption question. Learn how to master LSAT Sufficient questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.