LSAT 8 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In a study of the effect of radiation from nuclear weapons…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Radiation from nuclear weapons plants does not pose a health hazard to humans who live nearby.

REASONING: Researchers conducted a study. They looked at death rates in areas with and without nuclear weapons plants. They found no difference.

ANALYSIS: Death is not the only health hazard. People can get sick, people can feel pain etc. Our only evidence is about death but our conclusion is about health in general.

Maybe the weapons plants make people sick but don’t kill them.

___________

1. Since the study was specifically about nuclear weapons plants there was no reason to include nuclear power plants. They are two different things.
2. This strengthens the argument because it means the nuclear weapons plants did not have any effect on the death rate.
3. CORRECT. This strongly weakens the argument. The conclusion was about “health hazards” while the evidence only related to death rates. There are health problems apart from death.
4. This doesn’t affect whether or not those areas are harmed by the nuclear weapons plants.
5. This sounds tempting but the conclusion was only about people who lived near the weapons plants.

Recap: The question begins with “In a study of the effect of radiation from nuclear weapons”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.