December 2004 LSAT Section 2 Question 8

The use of phrases like "as so–and–so said" or "as the saying goes" suggests that the quote that follows has just bee...

Julie-V on July 12, 2019

Answers A and D

Hi LSAT Max! Can someone explain why we can eliminate A? I know that since it's not the right answer, the phrase is used appropriately. However, it was hard for me to eliminate this one because I felt that Fatima being a mathematician wasn't strong enough to support the part of the phrase that says "how much you've got to know". I also had a hard time eliminating D. This was the answer I chose because I made the mistake of identifying the husband's allergy to cats as as a negative attitude he has towards cats (I'm not sure why I made that inference, but I only caught it after going over the question). Since this answer choice doesn't explicitly state that he dislikes cats and he was willing to go to cat shows with Sharon, does that justify the phrase? Many thanks in advance for the help!

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Ravi on July 12, 2019

@Julie-V,

Happy to help. Let's look at (A) and (D).

(A) says, "Fatima was a mathematician who often thought about unsolved
problems of mathematics, although it was unpleasant to be reminded
that most would probably remain unsolved in her lifetime. As the
saying goes, "Strange how much you've got to know before you know how
little you know.""

With (A), we know that Fatima is a mathematician and despite her being
one, she thought often about unsolved problems and how hard it'd be to
solve them. This sounds like she knows a lot about mathematics, but
she also knows how much she does not know, so this isn't providing any
sort of counterexample to the phrase. Thus, we can get rid of this
choice.

(D) says, "Sharon loved cats, but her husband was allergic to them.
Still, he was occasionally willing to accompany her to cat shows. As
the saying goes, "Shared lives mean shared loves.""

We know Sharon's husband is allergic to cats. However, he's still
willing to go to cat shows to support his wife. This does not
contradict the idea of a shared life meaning shared loves because we
do not know about whether or not the husband really loves cats.
Although he's allergic to them, it's possible that he still loves
cats. Thus, (D) is out.

(E) says, "Raoul spent a year planning and preparing for a fantastic
ski trip. He enjoyed his ski trip greatly until he broke his leg and
had to spend two weeks in the hospital. As the saying goes, "All's
well that ends well.""

We know that Raoul's ski trip didn't end well. He was really enjoying
himself, but then he broke his leg and was in the hospital for two
weeks, which shows his ski trip ended on a bad note. The ski trip is a
strong counterexample to the saying, so it's certainly used
inappropriately. Thus, (E) is the correct answer choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!