Logical Reasoning

PT152 · S4 · Q7 Nutritionist: Contrary to popular belief

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Nutritionist: Contrary to popular belief, a high-calcium diet does not prevent osteoporosis (decrease in bone density).

View

(This question stem / paragraph combo is very unusual, because we're strengthening someone's view. View does not mean argument. We don't necessarily have to find a conclusion and its supporting ideas. We might, we might not. Here we did not. It was just a bunch of statements, which felt more like an Inference paragraph.)

High-calcium diet doesn't prevent osteoporosis.

In order to prevent osteoporosis, you need 1. low protein 2. lots of fruit veggies 3. a modest amount of meat and dairy 4. weight-bearing exercise

Bones thicken when they have to withstand regular resistance.

Evaluate / Goal

Since this wasn't an argument, we would analyze it more like an Inference paragraph. Can we synthesize any claims? Chain stuff together?

The only overlapping concept was "things required to prevent osteoporosis", which is why I listed them together above.

I don't really understand how these answers will be supporting the facts we were told. I guess they'll just reinforce what these facts have told us?

7.

Each of the following, if true, would support the nutritionist's view EXCEPT:

  1. Astronauts who have lived in

    Supports #4

    We knew that "preventing osteo requires weight-bearing exercise". So if you're in a weightless environment, you can't easily do weight-bearing exercise, and so you might start to develop osteoporosis, which is a decrease in bone density.

    13% picked this

  2. Correct

    Certain medical therapies that do

    Why this is right

    This answer choice conflicts with what we were told. We were told that a special diet (low protein, lots of fruits/veggies, a bit of meat/dairy) was essential to preventing osteoporosis. That means, if no special diet, can't prevent osteoporosis This answer choice is talking about a scenario in which you do not have a special diet, but it's still effective at preventing osteoporosis.

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

    78% picked this

  3. Populations in countries with the

    Supports #1

    This reinforces the idea that low-protein is required to prevent osteoporosis. Countries with lower protein consumption have lower osteoporosis rates. In order to prevent osteoporosis, you need 1. low protein 2. lots of fruit veggies 3. a modest amount of meat and dairy 4. weight-bearing exercise

    2% picked this

  4. Arctic peoples, who consume large

    Supports 1st Sentence

    This reinforces the first claim, that high-calcium is not the way to prevent osteoporosis. After all, look at these people who eat tons of calcium. They have some of the most osteoporosis of anyone!

    4% picked this

  5. The incidence of osteoporosis is

    Supports #1

    This one's the weirdest of the four we're eliminating. It reinforces the connection between low-protein and low incidence of osteoporosis. But the strict vegetarian thing seems to go against the idea that "a minimum amount of meat and dairy" are required. Given that a strict vegetarian diet would have no meat, it seems like in conditional thinking this would be a deal breaker. But apparently LSAT wants us to think of this more in a squishy causal way -- like, you don't need the set of all four things to get some benefit in preventing osteoporosis. It's an abuse of the strict meaning of "essential", but this answer is still closer to helping the author than the correct answer is. The correct answer pretty much contradicts something. This one is just a bit muddled. Saying we have #1 but #3 are still seeing unusually low rates of osteoporosis does at least have a supporting component to it.

    3% picked this

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