PrepTest 107

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

Question prompt

Ordinary mountain sickness, a Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Strengthen with Necessary Premise Questions

Stimulus Summary

Mountain sickness - Caused by shortage of oxygen, easily recovered from
Cerebral edema - Caused by shortage of oxygen, deadly
The two have similar symptoms, so edema is “especially dangerous” at high altitudes

Answer Anticipation

This question is more complicated than it might appear at first, and it becomes even more apparent as you work through the answer choices! Let’s set ourselves up to be in good shape to analyze them.
The stimulus goes into great depth comparing mountain sickness and cerebral edema. We learn that they both have the same cause, but the former is something most people recover from, whereas the latter is deadly.
After establishing this information, the stimulus moves into an argument - the “Since” tells us that we’re getting a premise that directly supports the conclusion. That premise? The symptoms of the two conditions are similar. From this, it concludes that cerebral edema is “especially dangerous” at high altitudes.
Why would the similarity of the symptoms for the two diseases make the deadly one “especially” dangerous at high altitudes? We’ve already established that it’s deadly, so what about the similar symptoms makes it especially so?
The only way this argument makes sense is if the similar symptoms lead people to mistakenly think they have the safer mountain sickness when in reality they have the deadly cerebral edema, and they skip treatment that could save them from the edema. Let’s find an answer reflecting that.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The treatment for ordinary Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    The stimulus brought in a lot of comparisons between mountain sickness and edema, and this one does, too, so we should consider it. And it does address the assumption we noted - that edema is especially dangerous because it could be confused for mountain sickness. That assumes that confusing it for mountain sickness results in them not getting life-saving treatment, which would require the treatment for the two conditions to be different. If they were the same, then confusing edema and mountain sickness wouldn’t be “especially dangerous” since the response to both would be the same, so you wouldn’t skip important treatment for edema! This is a necessary premise for the argument, but a really hard one to spot.
  2. B
    Cerebral edema can cause Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer explains why it’s dangerous, but not why it’s especially dangerous at high altitudes.
  3. C
    Unlike cerebral edema, ordinary Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    While this answer compares mountain sickness and cerebral edema, it doesn’t do so in a way that makes edema especially dangerous at high altitudes. The disruption of blood circulation to the brain would be true of edema at any altitude.
  4. D
    Shortage of oxygen at Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    While this would make any illness particularly dangerous at a high altitude, it doesn’t need to be true for there to be such danger. Additionally, this answer doesn’t tie to the premise about the similar symptoms.
  5. E
    Most people who suffer Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Whether most people recover with or without special treatment, if that treatment is different from the treatment for edema, edema is pretty dangerous when confused for mountain sickness.

What this tests

Discussion

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