A
assumes, without providing justification, that the feeding behavior of the birds observed was not affected by the ornithologist’s act of observation
B
fails to specify the nature of the animal food sources, other than insects, that were consumed by the birds
C
adopts a widespread belief about the birds’ feeding habits without considering the evidence that led to the belief
D
neglects the possibility that the birds have different patterns of food consumption during different parts of the day and night
E
fails to consider the possibility that the birds’ diet has changed since the earlier belief about their diet was formed
The question stem reads: The reasoning in the ornithologist's argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument… This is a Flaw question.
The ornithologist begins by stating how a particular bird species (we will call this bird "X") diet is believed to consist primarily of vegetation (plants). However, the ornithologist concludes that belief is wrong. In other words, The ornithologist argues that "X" birds' diets are mostly not plants. As evidence, he describes how he camouflaged himself and watched hundreds of "X" birds every morning for a month. During his morning observations, he estimates that over half of what "X" birds ate were insects and animal food resources (not plants). This line of reasoning is flawed because the ornithologist only observed birds during the morning. Let's say I hypothesized that the belief humans frequently drink coffee is wrong. To prove my theory, I hid in people's closets for many months and watched their bedtime routines. During my observations, I noticed very few people drank coffee. Hypothesis proven, right? No! The problem is that I only observed people at night when they were unlikely to drink coffee. The other problem is that I shouldn't hide in people's closets. An ideal experiment has a representative sample.
Similarly, the ornithologist has only observed what "X" birds eat in the morning. However, what "X" birds eat in the morning might be unrepresentative of their diet on the whole. Now that we have identified our flaw let's move to the answer choices.
Answer Choice (A) is wrong. The ornithologist says he camouflaged himself. You might argue that perhaps his camouflage was ineffective. However, our job LSAT flaw questions in the reasoning, not to question the truth of the premises. Even if he did camouflage himself well, his argument is still problematic (he was only watching "X" birds in the morning!).
Answer Choice (B) is wrong. The ornithologist does not need to describe exactly what kinds of food "X" birds ate. He needs to say that plants accounted for 50% or less of their diet. So if it was true that most of "X" birds' diets were insect and animal food sources, that would imply 50% or less of "X" birds' diet was plants.
Answer Choice (C) is wrong. The author does not adopt the widespread belief. The author rejects the widespread idea that "X" birds' diet is mostly plants.
Correct Answer Choice (D) is what we discussed. If it was confirmed that "X" birds have different feeding patterns throughout the day, the ornithologist made an error by taking an unrepresentative sample of the birds' diet.
Answer Choice (E) is incorrect. Mapping on the stimulus to (E), we would get: fails to consider the possibility that "X" birds diet has changed since the earlier belief that "X" birds mostly ate plants was formed. Even if it was true that the popular belief was formed when "X" birds used to mostly eat plants, what matters is what the birds eat now. If "X" birds mostly eat insects and animals, then the popular belief is wrong. Being right in the past doesn't make you any less wrong in the present.
A
Jackie has not previously cared for The Cruel Herd, but on the new album The Cruel Herd’s previous musical arranger has been replaced by Moral Vacuum’s musical arranger.
B
Though The Cruel Herd’s previous albums’ production quality was not great, the new album is produced by one of the most widely employed producers in the music industry.
C
Like Moral Vacuum, The Cruel Herd regularly performs in clubs popular with many students at the university that Jackie attends.
D
All of the music that Jackie prefers to listen to on a regular basis is rock music.
E
Jackie’s favorite Moral Vacuum songs have lyrics that are somber and marked by a strong political awareness.
He also assumes that what works in the cities with similar tax increases that are represented by the survey will also work in this particular city, without considering any local factors that might differ.
A
A city-imposed tax on cigarettes will substantially reduce the amount of smoking in the city if the tax is burdensome to the average cigarette consumer.
B
Consumers are more likely to continue buying a product if its price increases due to higher taxes than if its price increases for some other reason.
C
Usually, cigarette sales will increase substantially in the areas surrounding a city after that city imposes stiff taxes on cigarettes.
D
People who are well informed about the effects of long-term tobacco use are significantly less likely to smoke than are people who are not informed.
E
Antismoking education programs that are funded by taxes on cigarettes will tend to lose their funding if they are successful.
A
fails to establish that consistency is a more important consideration than accuracy
B
fails to consider the program’s accuracy in other tasks that it may perform
C
takes for granted that the program’s output would be consistent even if its estimates were inaccurate
D
regards accuracy as the sole criterion for judging the program’s value
E
fails to consider that the program could produce consistent but inaccurate output