LSAT 102 – Section 3 – Question 15

LSAT 102 - Section 3 - Question 15

June 1998

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT102 S3 Q15
+LR
+Exp
Necessary assumption +NA
A
13%
156
B
81%
166
C
1%
160
D
5%
159
E
1%
160
142
151
160
 +Medium 147.613 +SubsectionMedium

Because of the lucrative but illegal trade in rhinoceros horns, a certain rhinoceros species has been hunted nearly to extinction. Therefore an effective way to ensure the survival of that species would be to periodically trim off the horns of all rhinoceroses, thereby eliminating the motivation for poaching.

Summary
The argument concludes that a certain near-extinct rhinoceros species could be saved by regularly trimming the horns of all rhinos. How would this help? Because the reason that the species is endangered is because of poachers trading in rhino horns, and trimming the horns would remove the motivation for poaching.

Notable Assumptions
The argument assumes that resolving the cause that initially led to this species becoming endangered would be enough to allow the species’ survival going forward. In other words, the species hasn’t reached a point where even eliminating poaching won’t save it.
The argument also assumes that trimming the rhinos’ horns wouldn’t have unexpected consequences that could further endanger the species, such as making the rhinos more vulnerable to predators or lowering their reproductive rate.

A
Most poachers who are discouraged from hunting rhinoceroses are not likely to hunt other animals for their horns.
The argument is only concerned with ensuring the survival of this rhino species, so it’s not necessary that other animals will not become endangered.
B
At least some rhinoceroses whose horns are periodically trimmed off will be able to attract mates.
In order for the rhino species to survive, the members of the species must be able to reproduce. If trimming their horns totally prevented the rhinos from finding mates, they would go extinct even without poachers. That’s why this assumption is necessary.
C
Poachers hunt at least some immature rhinoceroses whose horns have not yet started to develop.
Ensuring the species’ survival doesn’t require protecting every single member of the species from hunting, so this assumption isn’t necessary.
D
The demand for rhinoceros horns will remain constant even if the supply decreases after the periodic trimming-off of the rhinoceros horns has begun.
Whatever happens to the demand for rhino horns is irrelevant, especially given the premise that trimming rhino horns would eliminate the motivation to continue poaching.
E
Rhinoceroses whose horns have been trimmed off are unable to defend themselves against predators.
Far from being necessary, this assumption would undermine the argument. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of one possible necessary assumption: that rhinos with trimmed horns would be able to defend themselves.

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LSAT PrepTest 102 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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