LSAT 144 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q1

LR Question 1 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In the bodies of reptiles, some industrial by-products…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: There are industrial by-products in the swamp’s ecosystem.

REASONING: Some alligators have developmental abnormalities. Industrial by-products can cause those developmental abnormalities.

ANALYSIS: The author showed that industrial by-products are a possible cause. But then they incorrectly assumed they were the only cause.

This is a classic LSAT flaw: Over-focussing on what we see, and ignoring possibilities that haven’t been discussed.

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1. The stimulus didn’t talk about abnormalities that can’t be caused by industrial by-products. So no explanation is needed.
2. CORRECT. This is the flaw. If, say, lack of food during pregnancy (for example) can cause developmental defects in young alligators, then industrial by-products may not be the cause.
3. Presumably the swamp alligators ate food from the swamp – only humans are in the habit of eating food from other continents. So the by-products in the food were still in the swamp.
4. It doesn’t matter if other reptiles were affected. If industrial by-products had been the only cause, then abnormalities in alligators would have been sufficient to prove abnormalities entered the swamp.
5. We have no evidence that these alligators are unrepresentative. And also, it doesn’t matter. If industrial by-products had been the only possible cause, then the presence of abnormalities in alligators would prove that by-products existed, even if the alligators were unrepresentative.
    
   For example, suppose I’m trying to prove that alien abductions exist. As evidence, I show that the US president was abducted last week. The president is certainly not a representative American, but who cares? If they’re abducted, it’s still clearly possible that abductions can happen.