LSAT Logical Reasoning: Paradox and Explain Questions 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company implemented mandatory diversity training after surveys showed employees felt the workplace was unwelcoming to minorities. A follow-up survey two years later showed minority employees felt even less welcome. Which of the following most helps explain this?
- The diversity training modules were outdated and contained stereotypes that offended participants.
- Mandatory training signaled to majority employees that management doubted their character, generating resentment that manifested in subtly hostile behavior toward minority colleagues. (Correct answer)
- Minority employees who completed the training felt their concerns were being minimized by a one-time corporate response.
- The training schedule conflicted with project deadlines, creating stress that poisoned workplace relationships.
Correct answer: Mandatory training signaled to majority employees that management doubted their character, generating resentment that manifested in subtly hostile behavior toward minority colleagues.
Mandatory implicit-bias training can trigger psychological reactance in majority employees, who express resentment in ways that worsen the climate for minority colleagues.
Question 2: A region implemented strict water conservation rules during a drought, requiring residents to cut water usage by 30%. Utility revenue fell so sharply that the water authority was forced to raise per-unit water prices. Which of the following best explains why this outcome is not paradoxical?
- Water authorities routinely raise prices regardless of usage levels to maximize profit.
- Fixed infrastructure costs remain constant regardless of water volume sold; when volume drops sharply, per-unit prices must rise to cover those fixed costs. (Correct answer)
- The drought caused water to become physically scarcer, making higher prices economically inevitable.
- Residents who conserved more were rewarded with higher price tiers under the new rate structure.
Correct answer: Fixed infrastructure costs remain constant regardless of water volume sold; when volume drops sharply, per-unit prices must rise to cover those fixed costs.
Fixed infrastructure costs spread across fewer units sold require higher per-unit revenue to break even, making price increases a predictable consequence of successful conservation.
Question 3: A public health campaign warned heavily about the dangers of sunscreen chemicals, encouraging people to avoid sunscreen. Skin cancer rates subsequently increased. Which of the following is the most straightforward explanation for this finding?
- The chemical compounds in sunscreen independently cause skin cancer when absorbed through the skin.
- Without sunscreen, people received more UV radiation exposure, the primary environmental cause of skin cancer. (Correct answer)
- The campaign caused people to spend more time outdoors because they feared sunscreen more than the sun.
- Skin cancer rates were already increasing before the campaign due to ozone depletion.
Correct answer: Without sunscreen, people received more UV radiation exposure, the primary environmental cause of skin cancer.
Reduced sunscreen use directly increases UV radiation exposure, the established cause of most skin cancers, producing the predictable outcome of rising rates.
Question 4: A developing nation received a large influx of foreign food aid during a famine. The famine ended, but five years later the country's domestic agricultural output was lower than before the famine. Which of the following most helps explain this long-term outcome?
- Foreign food aid is typically of lower nutritional quality than locally grown food, weakening the population's ability to farm.
- Free food aid undercut local market prices, making it economically unviable for local farmers to grow and sell crops, causing many to abandon farming. (Correct answer)
- Famine conditions permanently damaged the soil, preventing recovery of agricultural productivity.
- The country's government redirected agricultural subsidies to manufacturing during the famine recovery period.
Correct answer: Free food aid undercut local market prices, making it economically unviable for local farmers to grow and sell crops, causing many to abandon farming.
Sustained food aid suppresses local prices below production costs, making local farming economically irrational and undermining the agricultural sector that was supposed to recover.
Question 5: A social media platform removed its 'like' count display to reduce users' anxiety about social validation. Subsequent research showed user anxiety about social media increased after the change. Which of the following most helps explain this outcome?
- Users found other metrics such as comment counts and follower changes to monitor, but those metrics were more volatile and unpredictable, increasing uncertainty and anxiety. (Correct answer)
- Users spent more time on the platform after 'likes' were hidden, increasing total exposure to anxiety-inducing content.
- The removal of 'like' counts was widely publicized, drawing attention to social media anxiety and making users more aware of their own emotional responses.
- The platform simultaneously introduced a new content algorithm that prioritized emotionally provocative posts.
Correct answer: Users found other metrics such as comment counts and follower changes to monitor, but those metrics were more volatile and unpredictable, increasing uncertainty and anxiety.
Replacing a visible, stable metric with less predictable alternative signals gives users less control over feedback interpretation, paradoxically amplifying anxiety.
Question 6: A city built a new highway bypass to reduce traffic congestion in its downtown core. Within three years, downtown congestion was worse than before the bypass was built. Which of the following most helps explain this paradox?
- The bypass was built through residential neighborhoods, generating protest traffic from affected residents.
- The highway bypass induced new traffic demand: easier regional access attracted new businesses and residents, generating more vehicle trips than the bypass removed. (Correct answer)
- Construction of the bypass temporarily blocked downtown roads, creating habits of alternative routing that persisted after construction ended.
- The bypass tolls were set too high, causing drivers to avoid it and continue using downtown streets.
Correct answer: The highway bypass induced new traffic demand: easier regional access attracted new businesses and residents, generating more vehicle trips than the bypass removed.
Induced demand means that new road capacity lowers the effective cost of driving, attracting new trips that fill and exceed the capacity added, a well-documented transportation paradox.
Question 7: A study found that the more hours per week adults spend exercising, the higher their body mass index (BMI) tends to be, which appears to contradict the widely accepted link between exercise and weight loss. Which of the following most helps resolve this apparent paradox?
- BMI is a flawed measure that does not distinguish between fat mass and muscle mass; high-exercise adults have more muscle, which weighs more than fat, raising BMI without indicating overweight. (Correct answer)
- Adults who exercise more consume proportionally more calories, negating any calorie deficit from exercise.
- The study population was drawn from gym members, who tend to be heavier than the general population.
- Exercise raises the metabolic rate temporarily, causing short-term weight gain through water retention and inflammation.
Correct answer: BMI is a flawed measure that does not distinguish between fat mass and muscle mass; high-exercise adults have more muscle, which weighs more than fat, raising BMI without indicating overweight.
BMI conflates fat and muscle mass; heavy exercisers gain muscle which increases BMI while improving health and body composition, so the paradox is a measurement artifact.
LSAT Logical Reasoning: Paradox and Explain Questions 5
A company implemented mandatory diversity training after surveys showed employees felt the workplace was unwelcoming to minorities.
A follow-up survey two years later showed minority employees felt even less welcome.
Which of the following most helps explain this?