December 1991 LSAT Section 4 Question 21

Leona: If the average consumption of eggs in the United States were cut in half, an estimated 5,000 lives might be sa...

Mikhail1710 on June 29 at 09:18PM

Hi why is the answer, Option B?

Hi why is the answer, Option B? Option B: It is accurate to say that 5,000 lives have been saved as long as 5,000 people who would have died in a given year as a result of not changing their diet, did not do—so even if they died for some other reason.

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

Already have an account? log in

Emil-Kunkin on July 3 at 12:10AM

L claims that her idea could save 5000 lives a year. T finds this implausible as it would mean that the population in that counterfactual would be 50000 higher in ten years.

The question asks us how L would best respond.

B undermines the idea that t finds implausible. Saving 5000 per year does not actually mean that the population would be 50,000 higher after ten years, because a good chunk of them would have dies of other causes during that period. Thus, the implication that T finds implausible is actually not as large as she thought.