Logical Reasoning

PT115 · S2 · Q5 We are taught that pedestrians

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We are taught that pedestrians should cross the street at a corner and that jaywalking, in the sense of crossing other than at a corner, is dangerous and illegal.

GIVEN THAT ...

Crossing at a crosswalk is safer than jaywalking, since drivers are expecting people to cross at a sidewalk.

HOW CAN IT BE THAT

More pedestrians die crossing the crosswalk than jaywalking?

EVALUATE

This is an often used LSAT trope. More people die using the crosswalk because way more people cross there than jaywalking.

It's kinda like saying, . That's because millions of people fly every year, but only thousands jump out of a plane.

Or like saying, That's because tens of millions of people get covid and only a few thousand get Ebola.

We measure safety in terms of %, nor raw numbers. Only 1% of people who get covid die from it, whereas 20% of people who get Ebola die from it. But 1% of 10,000,000 is still a bigger raw number than 20% of 1,000.

Similarly, maybe only 1% of people die from using the crosswalk, whereas 15% of people die from jaywalking. But 1% of a much bigger number is still a higher total than 15% of small number.

GOAL

Look for an answer resolving the paradox by saying that way more people use the crosswalk than jaywalk. (note: we usually can't predict the answer to Paradox questions, but in this case, it's just a familiar LSAT pattern that it's hard to resist).

5.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the statistical claim cited above?

  1. Correct

    Far more pedestrians cross at

    Why this is right

    As we predicted, this resolves the paragraph by saying, "Sure jaywalking is more dangerous. But there's still a higher number of people dying while using the crosswalk because the total number of people using the crosswalk is way higher than the total jaywalking." In this way, even though someone is less likely to die using a crosswalk, there will still be a higher raw number of casualties relating to a crosswalk.

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

    93% picked this

  2. Some people jaywalk only when

    Very Weak: Some

    Some = at least one There are very few correct answers on Paradox, Strengthen, and Weaken that use the term Some, because it's only telling us about one measly data point. It's hard for one data point to have impact. This says "there's at least one person who only jaywalks if there's little traffic". Does that explain why more people die at crosswalks? No, especially because it's very possible that there's at least one person who crosses at a crosswalk only when there's little traffic.

    4% picked this

  3. Drivers are often unfamiliar with

    Reinforces Background

    This is reinforcing the background idea that drivers are expecting pedestrians at crosswalks but not expecting them to be jaywalking. But it has no power to explain why more people die at crosswalks.

    0% picked this

  4. Traffic laws in most locations

    No Distinction

    Since we're trying to figure out why there are MORE deaths at crosswalks than via jaywalking, we need an answer to provide a distinction between them. This says something that is true for both, so it's useless.

    2% picked this

  5. Good drivers anticipate jaywalkers as

    No Distinction

    Since we're trying to figure out why there are MORE deaths at crosswalks than via jaywalking, we need an answer to provide a distinction between them. This says something that is the same for both, so it's useless.

    1% picked this

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