October 2002 LSAT Section 1 Question 1

Physician: In itself, exercise does not cause heart attacks; rather, a sudden increase in an exercise regimen can ...

ClaudiaSierra on June 9, 2020

Could you please explain A and C?

I chose A (haven't seen which is correct) but as I'm reviewing I'm still torn between the two because they seem so similar, although A seems more correct because even if some employees were exercising before, everyone would increase their level of exercise.

Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

Annie on June 9, 2020

Hi @ClaudiaSierra,

This question asks you to pick the answer choice which is being assumed by the argument. Essentially, that means you are looking for an answer choice which would fit is a necessary premise for the conclusion to be true.

Answer (A) is correct. The conclusion tells us that the health program will result in an increased risk of heart attack among employees. But, what if all these employees already ran marathons and this health program just had them doing a light jog? Answer (A) tells us that this is not the case, and that the health program will cause a large increase in activity. You can double check your answer by negating it (because this is an assumption question). If the opposite were true- that the health program would not result in an abrupt increase in the amount of exercise employees do- then the conclusion wouldn't be true, making this the right answer.

Answer (C) is incorrect because the argument does not depend on it. If all employees exercise regularly, that does not mean they will necessarily have had an abrupt increase in exercise making them more susceptible to heart attack.