Logical Reasoning

PT9 · S4 · Q7 The incidence in Japan

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

  • 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

The incidence in Japan of most types of cancer is remarkably low compared to that in North America, especially considering that Japan has a modern life-style, industrial pollution included.

Facts

The incidence in Japan of most types of cancer is remarkably low compared to that in North America, especially considering that Japan has a modern life-style, industrial pollution included.

The cancer rates, however, for Japanese people who immigrate to North America and adopt the diet of North Americans approximate the higher cancer rates prevalent in North America.

Evaluate

Older LSATs tended to have a fair number of Most Supported questions that sound like Paradox questions with a big pivot in the middle and facts that don't seem to line up. When you encounter a stimulus like this, predict it will shake out like a Paradox question and try to reconcile the facts on either side of the pivot. Like Paradox questions, these stimuli often express a difference between two things being compared. Identifying something that explains the difference (the Causal Difference Maker) is a great way to reconcile the pivot and resolve the paradox.

Goal

Given that cancer is lower in Japan, which has industrial pollution just like North America, how come the cancer rates for Japanese immigrants who adopt our diet approximates our higher cancer rates? Sounds like the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) is the culprit. Still, because it's a Most Supported question, we don't want to marry our prediction and should read each answer with an open mind, selecting the one with the best support even if it doesn't match the prediction.

7.

If the statements above are true, they provide the most support for which one of the following?

  1. The greater the level of

    Contradicted

    This contradicts the facts about Japan: there's pollution over there like there is in North America but the cancer rates are lower.

    2% picked this

  2. The stress of life in

    Unsupported Comparison

    If this was a Paradox question, B could be a right answer. It points out a difference between the Japanese in Japan and Japanese Immigrants and connects that to cancer rates. The problem with B is that this is a Most Supported question, and we don't have any info suggesting that life in America is more stressful. The causal difference maker suggested by the facts is diet.

    2% picked this

  3. The staple foods of the

    Unsupported Causal Relationship

    This is a tempting one because it addresses our diet prediction. But our prediction was that the SAD diet in America causes cancer. Is the claim that the Japanese diet cures cancer equally well supported? While it may seem like opposite sides of the same coin, our facts are dealing with the incidence of cancer: as in, how often does cancer show up? We're told that it shows up way less in Japan. If the diet cured cancer, it would still show up. So a diet that cures cancer actually isn't well supported by a low incidence of cancer. This answer would be correct if it said that the Japanese diet prevented cancer.

    2% picked this

  4. Correct

    The relatively low rate of

    Why this is right

    Wow, this does not match our prediction at all. It's a great reminder that Most Supported questions aren't always predictable, and we need to read each answer with an open mind. We should be drawn to the ruling out language of D: it's something a lot of correct Most Supported answers share. So do our facts support that the low cancer in Japan is not genetic? Definitely. Our facts told us that when the Japanese immigrate and start eating burgers and donuts, they get cancer at similar rates as North Americans. If it was genetic, it would persist no matter where a person was living.

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

    72% picked this

  5. The higher cancer rates of

    Too Specific (fats)

    If this answer was just about the diet on the whole, it would be a well supported answer. But while the facts support that the diet is to blame, they don't support any specific component of the diet being responsible.

    22% picked this

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