LSAT 152 – Section 4 – Question 19

LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 19

November 2018

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT152 S4 Q19	+LR	Evaluate +Eval Causal Reasoning +CausR	A 7% 157 B 2% 155 C 9% 158 D 74% 164 E 7% 153	145 153 161	+Harder	147.181 +SubsectionMedium

European wood ants incorporate large quantities of solidified conifer resin into their nests. Conifer resin is a natural disinfectant that has been shown to kill strains of bacteria that can cause disease in wood ants. Thus, the wood ants’ use of conifer resin probably came about as a disease-protection measure.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis

The author hypothesizes that wood ants use conifer resin in their nests to protect against disease. This is because conifer resin kills bacteria that can harm wood ants.

Notable Assumptions

The author assumes a causal relationship from a correlation. In other words, the author assumes that just because the resin has disinfectant properties, these properties are the reason why wood ants use it in their nests, instead of some other reason—maybe the resin helps make a strong nest, or the ants just like the smell of it.

whether conifer resin retains its disinfectant properties over very long periods of time

Irrelevant—we have no reason to believe the resin’s disinfectant properties would need to last a long time for the ants to use it for disease-protection measures. Maybe the resin doesn’t retain its disinfectant properties for long, and the ants just replace it periodically.

whether the nests of European wood ants generally contain more conifer resin at some times of the year than at others

Irrelevant—we don’t know anything about how the time of year could affect why the ants use the resin. We’d have to make way too many assumptions for this to be useful.I

whether any ant species other than European wood ants use conifer resin in their nests

Irrelevant—the argument is solely about European wood ants. What other ants use in their nests is not relevant to the author’s conclusion.

whether the use of conifer resin affords structural benefits to European wood ants’ nests

This is useful—if the answer is yes, we have another use for the resin. This weakens the author’s conclusion that the ants use it for its disinfectant properties. If no, the author’s argument is strengthened, as a potential alternative explanation is eliminated.

whether the disinfectant properties of conifer resin evolved as a disease-protection measure for conifer trees

Irrelevant—how other organisms use conifer resin, or how it developed its disinfectant properties, are not relevant to the argument, which is about how and why the ants use the resin.

LSAT 152 – Section 4 – Question 19

LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 19

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LSAT PrepTest 152 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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