LSAT Logical Reasoning: Paradox and Explain Questions 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A technology startup gave all employees unlimited paid vacation days, expecting improved morale and retention. Instead, employees took fewer vacation days than under the old fixed-allotment system. Which of the following most helps explain this?
- Employees disliked vacation because they preferred the structure and social environment of the workplace.
- Without a defined allotment, employees had no social norm or benchmark for what was acceptable to take, creating pressure to appear maximally committed. (Correct answer)
- The company secretly monitored vacation usage and penalized those who took extended leave.
- Unlimited vacation policies are prohibited in the company's industry due to regulatory requirements.
Correct answer: Without a defined allotment, employees had no social norm or benchmark for what was acceptable to take, creating pressure to appear maximally committed.
Removing a defined allotment eliminates the implicit permission structure, leaving employees uncertain about norms and inclined to take less to signal dedication.
Question 2: A country's government raised the minimum wage, intending to help low-income workers. Economic data showed that average household income among the lowest-earning quintile fell in the following year. Which of the following most helps explain this paradox?
- Low-income workers spent their higher wages on taxable goods, increasing their tax burden.
- Some employers responded by reducing employee hours or cutting positions, leaving total income for some workers lower despite the higher hourly rate. (Correct answer)
- The minimum wage increase was too small to make a meaningful difference in workers' purchasing power.
- Higher wages attracted more workers into the labor market, increasing competition for low-wage jobs.
Correct answer: Some employers responded by reducing employee hours or cutting positions, leaving total income for some workers lower despite the higher hourly rate.
If employers reduce hours or eliminate positions in response to higher mandated wages, some workers' total annual earnings decline even as the per-hour rate rises.
Question 3: A marathon training app added real-time heart rate monitoring and warned runners when they were overexerting. Yet the injury rate among app users increased compared to runners using no training app. Which of the following best explains this paradox?
- The heart rate warnings were calibrated incorrectly and encouraged runners to maintain dangerously high heart rates.
- Runners who used no app were mostly experienced veterans who already knew their limits; app users were beginners who ran more aggressively once they felt technologically monitored. (Correct answer)
- The app's GPS tracking required runners to carry their phones, adding weight that stressed joints.
- The overexertion warnings distracted runners from watching the road, causing more tripping injuries.
Correct answer: Runners who used no app were mostly experienced veterans who already knew their limits; app users were beginners who ran more aggressively once they felt technologically monitored.
Selection bias explains the finding: beginners disproportionately use apps and have higher baseline injury rates regardless of the app's utility.
Question 4: A nonprofit distributed free mosquito nets to a region with high malaria rates. After two years, malaria cases in the region had not declined. Which of the following most helps explain this finding?
- The mosquito nets were of inferior quality and provided inadequate protection against the specific mosquito species in the region.
- Residents used the nets during the day but slept outdoors at night without them, because daytime napping was culturally more common than nighttime sleeping under nets. (Correct answer)
- Malaria is caused by a parasite, not a mosquito, so nets would not address the root cause.
- The nonprofit distributed fewer nets than needed to cover the population, leaving many residents without protection.
Correct answer: Residents used the nets during the day but slept outdoors at night without them, because daytime napping was culturally more common than nighttime sleeping under nets.
If sleeping patterns mean nets are used at the wrong time, their protective function is negated even though they are physically present in homes.
Question 5: A university switched from letter grades to detailed written evaluations, believing this would reduce student anxiety about grades and improve learning. Student anxiety scores, however, increased after the switch. Which of the following most helps explain this?
- Written evaluations required students to read lengthy feedback, which was more time-consuming and stressful than checking a single letter grade.
- Graduate school admissions and employers continued to expect letter grades, and the uncertainty about how written evaluations would be interpreted created new sources of anxiety. (Correct answer)
- Professors wrote harsher critiques in written form than they would have expressed through letter grades.
- The switch signaled to students that the university doubted their ability to handle direct numerical feedback.
Correct answer: Graduate school admissions and employers continued to expect letter grades, and the uncertainty about how written evaluations would be interpreted created new sources of anxiety.
External stakeholders' continued reliance on letter grades meant that written evaluations created uncertainty about future outcomes, generating more anxiety than letter grades had.
Question 6: A city reduced speed limits on its most dangerous roads and installed more speed cameras. The number of fatal accidents on those specific roads decreased. Yet citywide fatal accident numbers increased. Which of the following most helps explain this?
- Speed cameras malfunction frequently and fail to deter speeders on targeted roads.
- Drivers who normally used the monitored roads rerouted to unmonitored residential streets, transferring and increasing danger in those areas. (Correct answer)
- Fatal accidents increased nationally during the same period due to distracted driving, overwhelming local improvements.
- The reduced speed limits caused congestion that led to rear-end collisions in adjacent intersections.
Correct answer: Drivers who normally used the monitored roads rerouted to unmonitored residential streets, transferring and increasing danger in those areas.
Displacement of traffic to unmonitored roads transfers and potentially amplifies risk in areas without safety measures, raising the citywide total even as targeted roads improve.
Question 7: Research found that countries where people eat the most red meat have longer average life expectancies than countries where people eat the least red meat. Which of the following most helps explain why this finding does not prove that red meat extends life?
- Red meat consumption data are notoriously unreliable because self-reported dietary surveys overcount servings.
- Countries with the highest red meat consumption tend to be wealthy nations with better healthcare, sanitation, and access to nutrition overall, so wealth—not meat—explains the longevity advantage. (Correct answer)
- Red meat contains iron and protein that are necessary for cellular repair and longevity.
- Life expectancy statistics are measured differently across countries, making cross-national comparisons inherently unreliable.
Correct answer: Countries with the highest red meat consumption tend to be wealthy nations with better healthcare, sanitation, and access to nutrition overall, so wealth—not meat—explains the longevity advantage.
Confounding by national wealth means the correlation between red meat consumption and longevity reflects a third factor—affluence—rather than a causal link.
LSAT Logical Reasoning: Paradox and Explain Questions 4
A technology startup gave all employees unlimited paid vacation days, expecting improved morale and retention.
Instead, employees took fewer vacation days than under the old fixed-allotment system.
Which of the following most helps explain this?