Resolve the Paradox Problem Set
1. Industry experts expect improvements in job safety training to lead to safer work environments. A recent survey indicated, however, that for manufacturers who improved job safety training during the 1980s, the number of on-the-job accidents tended to increase in the months immediately following the changes in the training programs.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
resolve the apparent discrepancy in the passage
above?
(A) A similar survey found that the number of onthe-
job accidents remained constant after job
safety training in the transportation sector
was improved.
(B) Manufacturers tend to improve their job safety
training only when they are increasing the
size of their workforce.
(C) Manufacturers tend to improve job safety
training only after they have noticed that the
number of on-the-job accidents has
increased.
(D) It is likely that the increase in the number of
on-the-job accidents experienced by many
companies was not merely a random
fluctuation.
(E) Significant safety measures, such as protective
equipment and government safety
inspections, were in place well before the
improvements in job safety training.
2. Cigarette companies claim that manufacturing both low- and high-nicotine cigarettes allows smokers to choose how much nicotine they want. However, a recent study has shown that the levels of nicotine found in the blood of smokers who smoke one pack of cigarettes per day are identical at the end of a day’s worth of smoking, whatever the level of nicotine in the cigarettes they smoke.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
explain the finding of the nicotine study?
(A) Blood cannot absorb more nicotine per day
than that found in the smoke from a package
of the lowest-nicotine cigarettes available.
(B) Smokers of the lowest-nicotine cigarettes
available generally smoke more cigarettes
per day than smokers of high-nicotine
cigarettes.
(C) Most nicotine is absorbed into the blood of a
smoker even if it is delivered in smaller
quantities.
(D) The level of tar in cigarettes is higher in lownicotine
cigarettes than it is in some highnicotine
cigarettes.
(E) When taking in nicotine by smoking cigarettes
is discontinued, the level of nicotine in the
blood decreases steadily.
3. Raisins are made by drying grapes in the sun. Although some of the sugar in the grapes is caramelized in the process, nothing is added. Moreover, the only thing removed from the grapes is the water that evaporates during the drying, and water contains no calories or nutrients. The fact that raisins contain more iron per calorie than grapes do is thus puzzling.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
explain why raisins contain more iron per calorie
than do grapes?
(A) Since grapes are bigger than raisins, it takes
several bunches of grapes to provide the
same amount of iron as a handful of raisins
does.
(B) Caramelized sugar cannot be digested, so its
calories do not count toward the calorie
content of raisins.
(C) The body can absorb iron and other nutrients
more quickly from grapes than from raisins
because of the relatively high water content
of grapes.
(D) Raisins, but not grapes, are available yearround,
so many people get a greater share of
their yearly iron intake from raisins than from
grapes.
(E) Raisins are often eaten in combination with
other iron-containing foods, while grapes are
usually eaten by themselves.
4. Vervet monkeys use different alarm calls to warn each other of nearby predators, depending on the danger comes from land or from the air. Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the behavior of vervet monkeys
described above?
(A) By varying the pitch of its alarm call, a vervet
monkey can indicate the number of predators
approaching.
(B) Different land-based predators are responsible
for different numbers of vervet monkey
deaths.
(C) No predators that pose a danger to vervet
monkeys can attack both from land and from
the air.
(D) Vervet monkeys avoid land-based predators by
climbing trees but avoid predation from the
air by diving into foliage.
(E) Certain land-based predators feed only on
vervet monkeys, whereas every predator that
attacks vervet monkeys from the air feeds on
many different animals.
Resolve the Paradox Problem Set Answer Key:
All answer keys in this book will indicate the source of the question by giving the month and year the
LSAT was originally administered, the Logical Reasoning section number, and the question number within
that section. Each LSAT has two Logical Reasoning sections, and so the Section 1 and Section 2
designators will refer to the first or second Logical Reasoning section in the test, not the physical section
number of the booklet.
Question #1. Resolve. October 2003 LSAT, Section 1, #4. The correct answer choice is (B)
The paradox in the stimulus is: for manufacturers who improved job safety training during the 1980s there
was an increase in the number of on-the-job accidents.
Answer choice (A): This answer does not provide an explanation for the paradox in the stimulus. Some
students eliminate this answer because it addresses the transportation industry, but information about the
transportation industry could be used to analogically explain the issue in the manufacturing industry (but,
to be correct the answer would have to offer some further relevant parallel between the two industries).
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer. If the workforce is increasing, more accidents would be
expected. Thus, safety training could improve the safety of the work environment (as measured by average
number of accidents per worker, for example) while at the same time the number of total accidents could
increase. Because this answer allows both sides to be true and it explains the circumstance in the stimulus,
this answer is correct. In Chapter Fifteen we will discuss average versus total numbers, and that will
further explain the construction of this question.
Answer choice (C): This would explain an increase in accidents before job safety training, but the issue in
the stimulus is an increase after the safety training.
Answer choice (D): This answer further confuses the issue. If the fluctuation was random, that could
explain how an increase in accidents could follow safety training. By stating that the increase was not
random, a possible cause of the scenario is eliminated.
Answer choice (E): This answer shows that the level of safety was at least minimal prior to the safety
training, but this does not help explain why an increase in accidents followed the training.
Question #2. Resolve. October 2000 LSAT, Section 2, #5. The correct answer choice is (A)
In rough terms, the paradox in the stimulus is that smokers of one pack of low-nicotine cigarettes have an
identical nicotine level at the end of the day as smokers of one pack of high-nicotine cigarettes. This
similarity must be explained by a similarity, not a difference.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer. The answer choice indicates that there is a similarity in the
blood such that the maximum amount of nicotine absorbed is identical for everyone. Because the
maximum amount of nicotine absorbed per day is equal to the nicotine in a pack of low-nicotine cigarettes,
each person absorbs the amount of nicotine equal to the low-nicotine pack regardless of the type of
cigarette smoked. Additional nicotine is not absorbed into the blood of smokers of the high-nicotine brand.
Since this answer explains the paradox, this is the correct answer.
Answer choice (B): Read closely! The stimulus is specifically about smokers who “smoke one pack of
cigarettes per day.” This answer discusses smoking different numbers of cigarettes and thus it fails to meet
the circumstances in the stimulus.
Answer choice (C): This answer confuses the issue because it indicates that most nicotine is absorbed into
the system. From this fact one would expect that those smoking high-nicotine cigarettes would have higher
nicotine levels than low-nicotine cigarette smokers.
Answer choice (D): The stimulus does not address the level of tar in cigarettes, nor can we make any
judgment about how tar affects nicotine levels.
Answer choice (E): This would apply to any smoker, and as this addresses an effect that occurs after
smoking is stopped, it does not help us understand why the nicotine rose to identical levels regardless of
the kind of cigarette smoked.
Question #3. Resolve. December 2001 LSAT, Section 1, #9. The correct answer choice is (B)
The paradox in the stimulus is that raisins contain more iron per calorie than grapes even though the two
are almost identical in composition. But there is a difference: “some of the sugar in grapes is caramelized”
as the grapes are dried in the sun. Since this is the only stated difference between the two that could affect
the calorie count (water has no calories), you should focus on an answer that discusses this difference.
Answer choice (A): This answer essentially states that grapes are bigger than raisins, and you need several
bunches to equal a handful of raisins. The issue is not the size of the grapes or raisins!
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer. If the iron content in the raisins and grapes is identical, but
raisins have fewer calories for counting purposes, then the iron per calorie will be higher for raisins, as
highlighted by the following example:
Raisins Grapes
Units of Iron 100 100
Countable Calories 10 20
Iron per Calorie 10 5
Note that the paradox could have addressed any common element between raisins and grapes (such as
fiber or fat), and raisins would always have the higher per calorie content since they contain fewer
countable calories.
Answer choice (C): The paradox in the stimulus does not involve the rate at which the body can absorb
iron or any other nutrient. This answer misses the point and is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): The availability of raisins and grapes is not an issue in the stimulus. The answer then
discusses iron, but the point made about yearly intake is irrelevant.
Answer choice (E): The comparison in the stimulus is between grapes and raisins. This answer, which
brings in other food items, is irrelevant.
Question #4. Resolve. October 2003 LSAT, Section 1, #8. The correct answer choice is (D)
The situation in the stimulus is that vervet monkeys use different calls depending on where predators come
from. The correct answer must explain why the calls are different (again, difference versus similarity is an
issue). Note that the stimulus does not contain a true paradox, just an odd situation that is presented
without explanation.
Answer choice (A): This answer states that vervet monkeys vary the calls in order to indicate the number
of predators, but the answer does not explain why different calls are used for land versus air predators.
This answer is attractive because it shows that different calls can be used to indicate different things, but it
is wrong because it does not explain the behavior of the monkeys as described in the stimulus.
Answer choice (B): This answer addresses only land-based predators and does not explain the difference
described in the stimulus.
Answer choice (C): This answer states that the predators using land attacks are different from the predators
using air attacks, but this information does not explain why vervet monkeys use different calls to indicate
that fact.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer. Because vervet monkeys react to predators in different
ways, they would need to know if the predator was coming by land or air. Hence, the different calls are
used to tell the monkeys whether they should climb trees or dive into the foliage. Since this answer
explains the behavior of vervet monkeys, this answer is correct.
Answer choice (E): The diet of selected predators of vervet monkeys is irrelevant and does not help
explain why vervet monkeys use different calls depending on the direction of the attack.
1. Industry experts expect improvements in job safety training to lead to safer work environments. A recent survey indicated, however, that for manufacturers who improved job safety training during the 1980s, the number of on-the-job accidents tended to increase in the months immediately following the changes in the training programs.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
resolve the apparent discrepancy in the passage
above?
(A) A similar survey found that the number of onthe-
job accidents remained constant after job
safety training in the transportation sector
was improved.
(B) Manufacturers tend to improve their job safety
training only when they are increasing the
size of their workforce.
(C) Manufacturers tend to improve job safety
training only after they have noticed that the
number of on-the-job accidents has
increased.
(D) It is likely that the increase in the number of
on-the-job accidents experienced by many
companies was not merely a random
fluctuation.
(E) Significant safety measures, such as protective
equipment and government safety
inspections, were in place well before the
improvements in job safety training.
2. Cigarette companies claim that manufacturing both low- and high-nicotine cigarettes allows smokers to choose how much nicotine they want. However, a recent study has shown that the levels of nicotine found in the blood of smokers who smoke one pack of cigarettes per day are identical at the end of a day’s worth of smoking, whatever the level of nicotine in the cigarettes they smoke.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
explain the finding of the nicotine study?
(A) Blood cannot absorb more nicotine per day
than that found in the smoke from a package
of the lowest-nicotine cigarettes available.
(B) Smokers of the lowest-nicotine cigarettes
available generally smoke more cigarettes
per day than smokers of high-nicotine
cigarettes.
(C) Most nicotine is absorbed into the blood of a
smoker even if it is delivered in smaller
quantities.
(D) The level of tar in cigarettes is higher in lownicotine
cigarettes than it is in some highnicotine
cigarettes.
(E) When taking in nicotine by smoking cigarettes
is discontinued, the level of nicotine in the
blood decreases steadily.
3. Raisins are made by drying grapes in the sun. Although some of the sugar in the grapes is caramelized in the process, nothing is added. Moreover, the only thing removed from the grapes is the water that evaporates during the drying, and water contains no calories or nutrients. The fact that raisins contain more iron per calorie than grapes do is thus puzzling.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
explain why raisins contain more iron per calorie
than do grapes?
(A) Since grapes are bigger than raisins, it takes
several bunches of grapes to provide the
same amount of iron as a handful of raisins
does.
(B) Caramelized sugar cannot be digested, so its
calories do not count toward the calorie
content of raisins.
(C) The body can absorb iron and other nutrients
more quickly from grapes than from raisins
because of the relatively high water content
of grapes.
(D) Raisins, but not grapes, are available yearround,
so many people get a greater share of
their yearly iron intake from raisins than from
grapes.
(E) Raisins are often eaten in combination with
other iron-containing foods, while grapes are
usually eaten by themselves.
4. Vervet monkeys use different alarm calls to warn each other of nearby predators, depending on the danger comes from land or from the air. Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the behavior of vervet monkeys
described above?
(A) By varying the pitch of its alarm call, a vervet
monkey can indicate the number of predators
approaching.
(B) Different land-based predators are responsible
for different numbers of vervet monkey
deaths.
(C) No predators that pose a danger to vervet
monkeys can attack both from land and from
the air.
(D) Vervet monkeys avoid land-based predators by
climbing trees but avoid predation from the
air by diving into foliage.
(E) Certain land-based predators feed only on
vervet monkeys, whereas every predator that
attacks vervet monkeys from the air feeds on
many different animals.
Resolve the Paradox Problem Set Answer Key:
All answer keys in this book will indicate the source of the question by giving the month and year the
LSAT was originally administered, the Logical Reasoning section number, and the question number within
that section. Each LSAT has two Logical Reasoning sections, and so the Section 1 and Section 2
designators will refer to the first or second Logical Reasoning section in the test, not the physical section
number of the booklet.
Question #1. Resolve. October 2003 LSAT, Section 1, #4. The correct answer choice is (B)
The paradox in the stimulus is: for manufacturers who improved job safety training during the 1980s there
was an increase in the number of on-the-job accidents.
Answer choice (A): This answer does not provide an explanation for the paradox in the stimulus. Some
students eliminate this answer because it addresses the transportation industry, but information about the
transportation industry could be used to analogically explain the issue in the manufacturing industry (but,
to be correct the answer would have to offer some further relevant parallel between the two industries).
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer. If the workforce is increasing, more accidents would be
expected. Thus, safety training could improve the safety of the work environment (as measured by average
number of accidents per worker, for example) while at the same time the number of total accidents could
increase. Because this answer allows both sides to be true and it explains the circumstance in the stimulus,
this answer is correct. In Chapter Fifteen we will discuss average versus total numbers, and that will
further explain the construction of this question.
Answer choice (C): This would explain an increase in accidents before job safety training, but the issue in
the stimulus is an increase after the safety training.
Answer choice (D): This answer further confuses the issue. If the fluctuation was random, that could
explain how an increase in accidents could follow safety training. By stating that the increase was not
random, a possible cause of the scenario is eliminated.
Answer choice (E): This answer shows that the level of safety was at least minimal prior to the safety
training, but this does not help explain why an increase in accidents followed the training.
Question #2. Resolve. October 2000 LSAT, Section 2, #5. The correct answer choice is (A)
In rough terms, the paradox in the stimulus is that smokers of one pack of low-nicotine cigarettes have an
identical nicotine level at the end of the day as smokers of one pack of high-nicotine cigarettes. This
similarity must be explained by a similarity, not a difference.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer. The answer choice indicates that there is a similarity in the
blood such that the maximum amount of nicotine absorbed is identical for everyone. Because the
maximum amount of nicotine absorbed per day is equal to the nicotine in a pack of low-nicotine cigarettes,
each person absorbs the amount of nicotine equal to the low-nicotine pack regardless of the type of
cigarette smoked. Additional nicotine is not absorbed into the blood of smokers of the high-nicotine brand.
Since this answer explains the paradox, this is the correct answer.
Answer choice (B): Read closely! The stimulus is specifically about smokers who “smoke one pack of
cigarettes per day.” This answer discusses smoking different numbers of cigarettes and thus it fails to meet
the circumstances in the stimulus.
Answer choice (C): This answer confuses the issue because it indicates that most nicotine is absorbed into
the system. From this fact one would expect that those smoking high-nicotine cigarettes would have higher
nicotine levels than low-nicotine cigarette smokers.
Answer choice (D): The stimulus does not address the level of tar in cigarettes, nor can we make any
judgment about how tar affects nicotine levels.
Answer choice (E): This would apply to any smoker, and as this addresses an effect that occurs after
smoking is stopped, it does not help us understand why the nicotine rose to identical levels regardless of
the kind of cigarette smoked.
Question #3. Resolve. December 2001 LSAT, Section 1, #9. The correct answer choice is (B)
The paradox in the stimulus is that raisins contain more iron per calorie than grapes even though the two
are almost identical in composition. But there is a difference: “some of the sugar in grapes is caramelized”
as the grapes are dried in the sun. Since this is the only stated difference between the two that could affect
the calorie count (water has no calories), you should focus on an answer that discusses this difference.
Answer choice (A): This answer essentially states that grapes are bigger than raisins, and you need several
bunches to equal a handful of raisins. The issue is not the size of the grapes or raisins!
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer. If the iron content in the raisins and grapes is identical, but
raisins have fewer calories for counting purposes, then the iron per calorie will be higher for raisins, as
highlighted by the following example:
Raisins Grapes
Units of Iron 100 100
Countable Calories 10 20
Iron per Calorie 10 5
Note that the paradox could have addressed any common element between raisins and grapes (such as
fiber or fat), and raisins would always have the higher per calorie content since they contain fewer
countable calories.
Answer choice (C): The paradox in the stimulus does not involve the rate at which the body can absorb
iron or any other nutrient. This answer misses the point and is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): The availability of raisins and grapes is not an issue in the stimulus. The answer then
discusses iron, but the point made about yearly intake is irrelevant.
Answer choice (E): The comparison in the stimulus is between grapes and raisins. This answer, which
brings in other food items, is irrelevant.
Question #4. Resolve. October 2003 LSAT, Section 1, #8. The correct answer choice is (D)
The situation in the stimulus is that vervet monkeys use different calls depending on where predators come
from. The correct answer must explain why the calls are different (again, difference versus similarity is an
issue). Note that the stimulus does not contain a true paradox, just an odd situation that is presented
without explanation.
Answer choice (A): This answer states that vervet monkeys vary the calls in order to indicate the number
of predators, but the answer does not explain why different calls are used for land versus air predators.
This answer is attractive because it shows that different calls can be used to indicate different things, but it
is wrong because it does not explain the behavior of the monkeys as described in the stimulus.
Answer choice (B): This answer addresses only land-based predators and does not explain the difference
described in the stimulus.
Answer choice (C): This answer states that the predators using land attacks are different from the predators
using air attacks, but this information does not explain why vervet monkeys use different calls to indicate
that fact.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer. Because vervet monkeys react to predators in different
ways, they would need to know if the predator was coming by land or air. Hence, the different calls are
used to tell the monkeys whether they should climb trees or dive into the foliage. Since this answer
explains the behavior of vervet monkeys, this answer is correct.
Answer choice (E): The diet of selected predators of vervet monkeys is irrelevant and does not help
explain why vervet monkeys use different calls depending on the direction of the attack.
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