Q21 - Since the sweetness of sugared

[maryadkins]

21. (B)
Question Type: Inference

We are looking for the statement that cannot be true based on the facts given in the stimulus. Four answer choices could be true and one must be false. We are given a lot of information in this stimulus:

Sugary drinks
-are sweet so athletes more likely to drink them
-can help prevent dehydration
-small amounts of sugar help you absorb water
-small amounts of sugar maintain blood’s glucose level which delays muscle fatigue
-big amounts are bad though"”take H2O from your blood to your stomach --> dehydration

Of course, plotting out the facts in the stimulus basically means rewriting the stimulus (time consuming!), so if you are struggling to "hold" the facts, use your own notation to circle, underline, or short hand key facts for maximum efficiency. (B) tells us that consuming substances that delay muscle fatigue"”i.e. small amounts of sugar"”invariably (i.e. without exception) exacerbate dehydration, that is, make it worse. The stimulus tells us the opposite. (B) is the correct answer.

(A) is incorrect because we are told nothing about glucose being the only type of sugar affecting muscle fatigue. There could be other sugars, so this could be true.
(C) is incorrect because we aren’t told anything about how athletes feel about drinks with large amounts of sugar. It is possible they could find them too sweet.
(D) is incorrect because we are told nothing about situations exacerbating muscle fatigue. All we know about muscle fatigue is that small amounts of sugar can help it. As far as the things exacerbating it, the stimulus puts no limits on those, so anything is possible.
(E) is incorrect. If anything, it is consistent with our stimulus. Besides, the stimulus doesn’t address the amount of water in the blood.

#officialexplanation

[chrisnyoder]

I have a question about this answer choice and your explanation. The correct answer choice states that problems caused by dehydration are invariably exacerbated if substances that delay muscle fatigue are consumed (i.e. sugared beverages). My question is whether it is ok to group the "problems caused by dehydration" and "dehydration" as one and the same.

In my opinion, a distinction would make a crucial difference. Couldn't one who is experiencing problems caused by dehydration, and thus already dehydrated, have those problems invariably exacerbated by the consumption of sugared drinks?

Although the stimulus states that sugared drinks can be helpful in staving off dehydration, we know nothing about its interactions with the problems associated it (unless those problems include muscle fatigue and low gluscose levels, which we can't be sure of).

Thoughts?

[irini101]

I agree with chrisnyoder, the stimulus never mentioned problems cuased by dehydration therefore I thought it was out of scope.

Could any geek analyze (B)?

Thanks a lot!

[lhermary]

Please explain

[shirando21]

I think the argument states only when large amounts of sugar were consumed, it exacerbates the dehydration process. but B says if it is consumed, which is not correct, because when it is small amount, it is actually helpful in avoiding dehydration.

The point when you apply rules in this argument, is the amount, small amount applies in several situation, and large amount applies in other situations.

[davepak]

The reason why B is the correct answer is due to the usage of the word invariably.

invariably: In every case or on every occasion; always

What this says is that in every case consuming substances that delay muscle fatigue will always exacerbate the problems caused by dehydration. However the stimulus states the complete opposite (small amounts can delay it), therefore it cannot be true and hence the correct answer.

[rinagoldfield]

Regarding (B) and the distinction between "dehydration" and "problems caused by dehydration:"

The reason why B is the correct answer is due to the usage of the word invariably.

invariably: In every case or on every occasion; always

What this says is that in every case consuming substances that delay muscle fatigue will always exacerbate the problems caused by dehydration. However the stimulus states the complete opposite (small amounts can delay it), therefore it cannot be true and hence the correct answer.

Great explanation, davepak. Let’s say one "problem" caused by dehydration is lightheadedness, and lightheadedness is only caused by dehydration. Based on the stimulus, it can’t be true that drinking sugared beverages invariably exacerbates lightheadedness. We know that drinking small amounts of said beverages would stave of dehydration, and, therefore, also lightheadedness.

[T.J.]

Thank you guys for the excellent posts above. Here is my two cents. When I worked on this question, the two most appealing choices are B and D. In B, "invariably" tips me off and when I go back to the stimulus, I find out various amounts of sugar would not invariably exacerbate dehydration.
However, D was troubling for me as I think it's meant to be confusing and time-consuming to read. My two reasons for eliminating it are: 1. muscle fatigue and dehydration are presented as the problems caused by beverage intake in this question, not the causes of further problems; 2. muscle fatigue and dehydration are not related in that the former can be delayed by glucose level and the latter would follow if large amounts of sugared beverages are to be consumed.
Let me know what you think of my reasons for eliminating D. Thanks

[sumukh09]

Thank you guys for the excellent posts above. Here is my two cents. When I worked on this question, the two most appealing choices are B and D. In B, "invariably" tips me off and when I go back to the stimulus, I find out various amounts of sugar would not invariably exacerbate dehydration.
However, D was troubling for me as I think it's meant to be confusing and time-consuming to read. My two reasons for eliminating it are: 1. muscle fatigue and dehydration are presented as the problems caused by beverage intake in this question, not the causes of further problems; 2. muscle fatigue and dehydration are not related in that the former can be delayed by glucose level and the latter would follow if large amounts of sugared beverages are to be consumed.
Let me know what you think of my reasons for eliminating D. Thanks

I'm not an LSAT expert by any means, but I'm inclined to agree with your assessment for eliminating D as an answer choice. Also, agree that D is meant to confuse the reader, but I wouldn't necessarily call it "time-consuming to read." Maybe you meant time consuming in the sense it requires you to spend some more time deliberating exactly what D is trying to say? Further, the "some situations" is, I think, definitely another factor for why D is easy to eliminate; this is a must be false question, so there may very well be situations where there are situations that exacerbate the problems caused by muscle fatigue that ALSO exacerbate those caused by dehydration. Basically, the negation of answer choice D. We're not given any information in the stimulus about the relationship between muscle fatigue and dehydration - as you pointed out - so accepting D as a must be false would be incorrect.

[asafezrati]

Regarding (B) and the distinction between "dehydration" and "problems caused by dehydration:"

The reason why B is the correct answer is due to the usage of the word invariably.

invariably: In every case or on every occasion; always

What this says is that in every case consuming substances that delay muscle fatigue will always exacerbate the problems caused by dehydration. However the stimulus states the complete opposite (small amounts can delay it), therefore it cannot be true and hence the correct answer.

Great explanation, davepak. Let’s say one "problem" caused by dehydration is lightheadedness, and lightheadedness is only caused by dehydration. Based on the stimulus, it can’t be true that drinking sugared beverages invariably exacerbates lightheadedness. We know that drinking small amounts of said beverages would stave of dehydration, and, therefore, also lightheadedness.

What if lightheadedness is not caused only by dehydration, but also by every substance that delays muscle fatigue - and it is stronger when it is caused by those substances? So you might have cut down dehydration, or maybe you haven't, but it doesn't matter - the PROBLEM is exacerbated.
If the lightheadedness is the only problem caused by dehydration, then we can conclude that all the problems which are caused by dehydration are invariably exacerbated when these substances are consumed

That is possible, and so could be true.

Help?

[JenniferK632]

Hi Mary! I am indeed struggling to "hold" the information in the time crunch. Unfortunately, we no longer have a paper test... Any advice?

21. (B)
Question Type: Inference

We are looking for the statement that cannot be true based on the facts given in the stimulus. Four answer choices could be true and one must be false. We are given a lot of information in this stimulus:

Sugary drinks
-are sweet so athletes more likely to drink them
-can help prevent dehydration
-small amounts of sugar help you absorb water
-small amounts of sugar maintain blood’s glucose level which delays muscle fatigue
-big amounts are bad though"”take H2O from your blood to your stomach --> dehydration

Of course, plotting out the facts in the stimulus basically means rewriting the stimulus (time consuming!), so if you are struggling to "hold" the facts, use your own notation to circle, underline, or short hand key facts for maximum efficiency. (B) tells us that consuming substances that delay muscle fatigue"”i.e. small amounts of sugar"”invariably (i.e. without exception) exacerbate dehydration, that is, make it worse. The stimulus tells us the opposite. (B) is the correct answer.

(A) is incorrect because we are told nothing about glucose being the only type of sugar affecting muscle fatigue. There could be other sugars, so this could be true.
(C) is incorrect because we aren’t told anything about how athletes feel about drinks with large amounts of sugar. It is possible they could find them too sweet.
(D) is incorrect because we are told nothing about situations exacerbating muscle fatigue. All we know about muscle fatigue is that small amounts of sugar can help it. As far as the things exacerbating it, the stimulus puts no limits on those, so anything is possible.
(E) is incorrect. If anything, it is consistent with our stimulus. Besides, the stimulus doesn’t address the amount of water in the blood.

#officialexplanation

[dmitry]

The digital LSAT definitely adds a different kind of challenge now that we can't mark the physical test. We have some suggested annotation strategies on our blog. https://www.manhattanprep.com/lsat/blog ... ate-guide/

However, I wouldn't try too hard to hold the whole picture anyway. If an argument has a main point, or if two or more statements combine to reveal a useful inference, it's useful to have that in mind. However, for an inference question like this, we mostly want to compare each answer directly to the text as written, and for that we don't need any annotation. For instance, after reading A, I'd want to know if glucose is the only sugar that affects fatigue. I'd look back and see that the second sentence mentions glucose. Since it's not restrictive in nature ("only glucose"), there's nothing stopping A from being true, so I'd cut it and move on.