LR Problem Set #1 supplement question 58

[lorein21]

I remember seeing a question similar to this except it was about parenting. i got it wrong also. I want to understand how they come to answer choice e. I got answer choice A.

Thank You,
Lorein

[Nikki Siclunov]

The key here is the last sentence in the stimulus: John does not know anyone like that and it is quite certain that he is not unique among his friends in this respect.

This is a Must Be True question, requiring you to distinguish between fact and opinion. What John's friends say is opinion, not fact: opinions are inherently questionable. The only fact you are supposed to take as true is that they say something, not that their statements are actually true. By contrast, the last clause of the second sentence in the stimulus is a fact: it is quite certain that John is not unique among his friends in this respect, i.e. at least one of his friends also does not know anyone like that. Considering that all of John's friends claim they know someone who smokes and is well, it must be true that at least one his friends is lying. This prephrase is consistent with answer choice (E).

Whether smokers often lie about how much they smoke cannot be proven given the information in the stimulus: we have no evidence as to whether any of John's friends are smokers, and even if they were, how often they lie about their smoking habits. Answer choice (A) is entirely outside the scope of the fact set described in the stimulus and should not be a contender for an answer to a Must Be True question. Be careful not to bring into the LSAT your own knowledge of the behavior of smokers: even if (A) is true in the real world, this is not something you can use in answering the question.