#4 - Specific Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[LeslyLSATinLA]

I chose answer choice C because I was thinking how one would respond if the guests in your home would smoke in your home. Someone would be upset. But I guess, someone weaving in and out of traffic would make the other drivers upset too. I eliminated this answer because the answer says that the person doing this would be concerned. Then, I wondered well, why would they do it if they're being worried about the risks. Can someone please explain why it is D not C?

[Adam Tyson]

In order to answer this question, LeslyLSATinLA, we need to review the section of text to which the question referred. That's the studies mentioned back in the first paragraph, the ones that suggest that laypeople are bad at evaluating risks. The author describes those studies as "asserting that, although people apparently ignore mundane hazards that pose significant danger, they get upset about exotic hazards that pose little chance of death or injury."

Therefore, we need an answer that shows someone ignoring mundane behavior that is very risky, while being upset about dangers that are very rare, because that's what those studies are talking about.

Answer D does exactly that. We have someone ignoring the very real, ordinary danger associated with reckless driving, while being worried about something that is extremely unlikely to ever pose any danger to them.

Answer C is about someone paying attention to two different risks, and we can't be sure whether either of them is all that exotic. Is it weird to care about radon, or is that mundane? Is it strange to be concerned about smoking, or is that ordinary? And either way, this answer has someone concerned with both risks, rather than ignoring one while being overly concerned about another, which is what the studies illustrate.