Some people believe that good

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: only21% picked this

   presumes, without providing justification, that only highly educated people make informed

   The author is only assuming that high educational levels make informed lifestyle choices more likely. She hasn't committed herself to this extreme position that "any person who isn't highly educated never makes a single informed lifestyle choice".

   21%
2. B

   Doesn't Overlook Possibility9% picked this

   overlooks the possibility that people who make informed lifestyle choices may nonetheless suffer

   We'd ask ourselves whether it weakens the argument to say, "Hey, author --- people who make informed lifestyle choices might still suffer from an inherited disease". That's very weak language ("may"), so it will only hurt the author if she held some extreme position that doesn't allow for exceptions. But she does not hold such a position. She said, "Good health is largely the result of making informed lifestyle choices", not entirely the result of.

   9%
3. C

   Too Strong: everyone2% picked this

   presumes, without providing justification, that informed lifestyle choices are available

   The author hasn't committed to the extreme position that every single person in the world has the option of making informed lifestyle choices. In fact, given that the author thinks that some people's informed lifestyle choices are heavily influenced by their high educational levels, (and given that common sense would not assume that high educational levels are available to everyone), it's probably more likely that the author disagrees with this answer than assumes it.

   2%
4. D

   Correct62% picked this

   overlooks the possibility that the same thing may causally contribute both to education and

   Why this is right

   This weakens the argument by presenting the possibility of an Alternate Explanation for the curious fact. It allows us to say, "Hey, author -- maybe health and education are correlated, not because one causes the other, but because they're both caused by the same thing (probably wealth)." Whenever authors present a correlation, x is correlated with y x || y and then assumes a causal connection thus, x must cause y x ? y our job is to consider these two alternate possibilities: 1. what if y causes x? (reverse causality) 2. what if z causes x and y (third factor) This answer is saying, in LSAT nerd terms, "the author failed to consider 3rd factor".

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

   62%
5. E

   Doesn't Fail to Acknowledge6% picked this

   does not acknowledge that some people who fail to make informed lifestyle choices are

   We'd ask ourselves whether it weakens the argument to say, "Hey, author --- some people who don't make informed lifestyle choices might still be in good health." It does have a common weakening form (Effect w/o Cause). But it's got very weak language ("some" - at least one person), so it will only hurt the author if she held some extreme position that doesn't allow for exceptions. But she does not hold such a position. She said, "Good health is largely the result of making informed lifestyle choices", not entirely the result of. So her position is very compatible with the idea there will be exceptions (some people who make informed choices will be in bad health / some people who don't make informed choices will be in good health).

   6%