LSAT 117 – Section 2 – Question 01

LSAT 117 - Section 2 - Question 01

October 2004

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT117 S2 Q01
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
2%
156
B
78%
163
C
3%
155
D
15%
155
E
3%
154
142
150
158
 +Medium 146.765 +SubsectionMedium

The tidal range at a particular location is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tidal studies have shown that one of the greatest tidal ranges in the world is found in the Bay of Fundy and reaches more than seventeen meters. Since the only forces involved in inducing the tides are the sun’s and moon’s gravity, the magnitudes of tidal ranges also must be explained entirely by gravitational forces.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author puts forward a theory that tidal ranges — the difference between a tide’s highest and lowest points — must be explained by gravitational forces since those kinds of forces are the tides’ only cause.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The argument fails to consider that while an event may have just one cause, it can still be affected by other forces. There could be many factors such as geography, weather, etc. that all impact how high or low a tide rises or falls. Even though these factors don’t directly cause the tides to occur, they can certainly exert some kind of influence on their ranges.

A
It gives only one example of a tidal range.
This isn’t a flaw. The Bay of Fundy is given as one example of a tidal range, but the argument’s logic would be the same whether it gave more examples or no examples at all.
B
It fails to consider that the size of a tidal range could be affected by the conditions in which gravitational forces act.
This describes how other factors could affect tidal ranges without being the cause of the tides themselves. For example, a rainstorm might cause the water level to be higher even though rain isn’t what causes the tide itself.
C
It does not consider the possibility that low tides are measured in a different way than are high tides.
This is irrelevant. There’s no reason to think that they’d be measured differently. Even if they were, the argument’s logic would be the same.
D
It presumes, without providing warrant, that most activity within the world’s oceans is a result of an interplay of gravitational forces.
The argument simply doesn’t do this. The argument says that gravity causes tides, but never mentions any other activities in the ocean.
E
It does not differentiate between the tidal effect of the sun and the tidal effect of the moon.
This is an irrelevant distinction. The argument claims that only gravitational force affects tidal ranges. This point could still stand whether that force came from the sun or the moon.

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LSAT PrepTest 117 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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