PrepTest 107

[lcid:3524] Prep Test 107 LSAT — Logical Reasoning — S1 Logical reasoning

Question prompt

Nutritionist: Many people claim Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Valid

Question Type

Must Be True Questions

Stimulus Summary

Studies - High carb intake causes insulin production, which causes energy production or fat storage
Conclusion - Replacing fat with carbs isn’t a good diet

Answer Anticipation

This is a hard Must be True question to anticipate an answer for, since there’s a lot of scientific information, but it’s hard to see how it can lead to an inference.
When that’s the case, you should focus on elements that tend to lead to correct answers in this question type, and science is associated with a common one - causality. For the most part, science is interested in describing causal relationships.
And this stimulus is no exception - the study shows a causal chain. A high simple carb intake causes an overproduction of insulin, which causes energy to go up and fat storage to go up. That causal chain is likely to play into the correct answer, so instead of getting bogged down in the science, let’s take that into the answers and see what we can find.

Answer choices

  1. A
    People on low–fat diets Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Carbs increase insulin, which processes sugar into energy, so eating carbs would be a way to maintain energy.
  2. B
    People who produce enough Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    There’s no indication as to who should or should not adopt a low-fat diet.
  3. C
    People who consume simple Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The stimulus is about those on a low-fat diet replacing the calories with carbs, not those who eat carbs and whether they should go on a low-fat diet. That’s a bit of a reversal!
  4. D
    People who wish to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    The stimulus notes that eating simple carbs increases insulin production, which in turn results in the body storing by-products as fat. As such, those who wish to avoid that effect (gaining body fat) should avoid the cause of it (eating a lot of simple sugars). This answer is supported by the causality in the study, so it’s the correct answer. Note that a causal statement in the stimulus supports this recommendation, highlighting that recommendations are inherently causal (to make a recommendation, you have to believe that the recommended action will help to achieve a goal).
  5. E
    People who do not Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Note that this answer is about body weight, not body fat. Since the stimulus doesn’t discuss other types of potential weight gain (water weight, muscle weight), this answer is out of scope.

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