Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT131 S2 Q14 Explanation

At one sitting, a typical

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

TopicsNecessary Assumption

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Stimulus

At one sitting, a typical doughnut eater consumes 4 doughnuts containing a total of 680 calories and 40 grams of fat. The typical bagel eater consumes exactly one bagel, at 500 calories and one or two grams of fat per sitting, though the addition of spreads can raise calorie and fat content typical doughnut eater and a typical bagel eater each consumes at one sitting.

What this question is testing

Necessary Assumption

Your task

Find the assumption the argument requires in order for its conclusion to hold.

Common trap

Answers that would help the argument but aren't strictly required (sufficient, not necessary).

Winning move

Negate each choice — the right one breaks the argument when negated.

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

The question
14.

The argument depends on assuming which one of

Answer choices

  1. Out of Scope11% picked this

    The calories and fat in bagels have the same health impact on bagel eaters as the calories and fat in

    The health impact of the calories and fat in each are not relevant to the argument.

  2. Out of Scope0% picked this

    Most bagel eaters are not fully aware of the calorie and fat content

    Whether bagel and doughnut eaters are aware of what they're eating is not relevant to the argument.

  3. Out of Scope2% picked this

    Eating bagels instead of eating doughnuts provides no real

    Health benefits are not relevant to the argument which is strictly about the number of calories and the grams of fat.

  4. Correct84% picked this

    The typical doughnut eater does not add to doughnuts any substances that increase the

    Why this is right

    This defends the argument from something that would destroy it.

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

  5. Out of Scope2% picked this

    Most typical doughnut eaters are not also

    Whether there is overlap between the two groups is not important since the argument is about how much the average eater of each kind eats at one sitting, which would not include both a bagel and a doughnut.

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