Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT8 S1 Q1 Explanation

Of all the surgeons practicing

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

TopicsParadox

Keep going in LSAT Lab

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Free to start

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

Of all the surgeons practicing at the city hospital, the chief surgeon has the worst record in terms of the percentage of his patients who die either during or immediately following an operation performed by him. Paradoxically, the best surgeon currently working at the hospital.

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
1.

Which one of the following, if true, goes farthest toward showing that the administrators’ claim and the statistic cited

Answer choices

  1. Trap2% picked this

    Since the hospital administrators appoint the chief surgeon, the administrators are strongly motivated to depict the chief surgeon they have

  2. Trap1% picked this

    In appointing the current chief surgeon, the hospital administrators followed the practice, well established at the city hospital, of promoting one of

  3. Trap1% picked this

    Some of the younger surgeons on the city hospital’s staff received part of their training from

  4. Correct95% picked this

    At the city hospital those operations that inherently entail the greatest risk to the life of the patient are generally

    Why this is right

    Answer D is correct.

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

  5. Trap1% picked this

    The current chief surgeon has a better record of patients’ surviving surgery than did

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free