Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT12 S4 Q22 Explanation

A long-term health study that followed

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

TopicsParadox

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Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

A long-term health study that followed a group of people who were age 35 in 1950 found that those whose weight increased by approximately half a kilogram or one pound per year after the age of 35 tended, on the whole, to live longer than those who maintained the weight they had with a host of health problems that tend to lower life expectancy.

What this question is testing

Paradox

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
22.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the

Answer choices

  1. Trap30% picked this

    As people age, muscle and bone tissue tends to make up a smaller and smaller proportion

  2. Trap3% picked this

    Individuals who reduce their cholesterol levels by losing weight can thereby also reduce their risk of dying from

  3. Correct54% picked this

    Smokers, who tend to be leaner than nonsmokers, tend to have shorter life

    Why this is right

    Answer C is correct.

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

  4. Trap7% picked this

    The normal deterioration of the human immune system with age can be slowed down by a reduction in

  5. Trap7% picked this

    Diets that tend to lead to weight gain often contain not only excess fat but also unhealthful concentrations

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