Logical Reasoning

PT102 · S2 · Q3 Many people limit the intake of

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Many people limit the intake of calories and cholesterol in their diet in order to lose weight and reduce the level of cholesterol in their blood.

Setup Claims

Many people limit calories / cholesterol in their diet, to lose weight reduce blood cholesterol.

causal chain

lose ⇢ fat cells ⇢ cholesterol spilled weight smaller, into bloodstream but same #

Conclusion (therefore)

When someone goes on a low-cal, low-cholesterol diet ...

Evaluate

Based on this info, what is caused by a low-cal / low-cholesterol diet? It never officially says, but the first claim insinuates that going on such a diet is thought to lead to lower weight and lower blood cholesterol.

If the person loses weight, their fat cells spill cholesterol into the bloodstream.

So one of the goals is undermining the other goal. The two goals of this diet were "losing weight" and "lowering blood cholesterol". But the causal chain tells us that when you lose weight it actually increases the blood in your cholesterol (at least in one way).

Goal

Look for a safely worded answer that rewards our understanding that losing weight results in higher blood cholesterol (in at least one sense, because fat cells are dumping their cholesterol into the bloodstream).

Maybe something like, .

3.

Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?

  1. Correct

    might at first have an

    Why this is right

    This rewards our understanding that if a low-cal / low-cholesterol diet succeeds in helping a person lose weight, then the person's fat cells will dump cholesterol into the bloodstream, creating an uptick in the level of cholesterol in the blood. This answer is very safely worded: - they might (reflecting that people on these diets will not necessarily lose weight) - at first (reflecting that the uptick in blood cholesterol caused by the shrinking fat cells is still offset by lower cholesterol in their diet)

    Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    94% picked this

  2. will not lose weight any

    Unsupported Comparison

    We don't know anything about a diet high in calories, but this answer certainly offends our common sense. This answer is saying that someone on a high calorie diet will lose weight at least as fast as will someone on a low calorie diet.

    1% picked this

  3. might lose more weight by

    Unsupported Comparison

    We don't know anything about a low cal / high cholesterol diet. Our common sense would tell us that it's less healthy than a low cal / low cholesterol diet, because we know that calories and cholesterol are not particularly good for us (in any degree of excess). So we have no support for the notion that someone would lose more weight by eating more cholesterol.

    1% picked this

  4. will not decrease the size

    Opposite, if anything

    Since we think that people going on a low-cal / low cholesterol diet might lose weight, and since losing weight causes the fat cells to decrease in size, we would assume that many people who go on this diet will decrease the size of their fat cells.

    3% picked this

  5. will both decrease the level

    Double Opposite

    We think that going on this diet will lead to lower weight and potentially more cholesterol (because of fat cells spilling it into the bloodstream).

    1% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free