#27 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Purpose

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thank you!

[rappel2]

Hello I would like to make sure I clearly understand this question. I was torn between A and D on this question but upon reflection see that D is not a great answer. If the passage did not have any proposed reasoning, "these points suggest that humans are so evolutionarily constrained to eating foods that are digestible and easily chewed that cooking is normally obligatory." would it have been fair to say it was discussing a scientific puzzle? So if the passage just proposed a series of questions?

[James Finch]

Hi Rappel,

(D) is the correct answer choice, so I'm a little confused by your question. I'm assuming you meant (A) was not a great answer choice? If so, the passage is clearly advocating for a specific hypothesis (cooked food caused human gastrointestinal adaptations), rather than simply describing a puzzling situation in which something would appear to be caused by one thing but actually caused by another. If the passage was structured differently and didn't actually advocate for a position, then (A) could be correct, but it is very different from what is in the actual passage.

Hope this helps!

[JGonzalez515]

Hi,

I was between C and D here. I picked C because I felt that it was more expansive without being incorrect. The author does propose a scientific hypothesis like D says, but I preferred "elucidate the meaning of a scientific hypothesis" because I took this to be consistent with the author exploring the implications of the hypothesis, which in turn is consistent with the correct answer E for #24 of this section, which describes the structure of the passage as "the second and third paragraphs explore the possible empirical implications of a claim made in the first paragraph."

Could you please elaborate a bit on why C specifically is wrong?

[Jeremy Press]

Hi JGonzalez515,

I completely agree with you that it would be appropriate to describe the passage as "exploring the implications of the [proposed] hypothesis," which is a very fine description of what's happening in paragraphs 2 and 3. Side note: do notice that paragraph 2 continues to expand the hypothesis, when it states, "we suggest that [decrease in human tooth and jaw size] was a consequence of eating cooked food."

The problem is that to "elucidate [i.e., clarify] the meaning of a hypothesis" is to focus specifically on making the hypothesis more understandable (for example, to an audience), not to go beyond the hypothesis and answer additional questions that the hypothesis entails. In order to know what those additional questions are, one must already have a firm grasp on what the hypothesis means (and not require elucidation or clarification of the hypothesis itself).

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[dlehr99]

I chose (A) and realize entirely why it is wrong, as I just didn't have the appropriate recall to rule it out and was answering in the final few seconds.

On a broader level, is it relatively safe to rule out an an answer like choice (C) that uses a term similar to "elucidate," purely on the basis of the word? Maybe it's just me but that is certainly not a term I have ever heard or used before and I think it would be very difficult for LSAC to use it without additional context in a correct answer choice. It seems to me there would be inherent bias in the correct response results as it is far from common knowledge.

Thanks as always!

[Paul Marsh]

Hi dlehr99! Nice job going back and recognizing why Answer Choice (A) is incorrect.

As to your question - in a word, no. There's a couple reasons why I wouldn't rule out an answer choice just because it uses a word you're not familiar with. First, I very much doubt that there's any real correlation between hard words and incorrect answer choices. LSAC generally shies away from extremely difficult language, but when they do decide a word is acceptable LSAT material, it could end up in either a correct or incorrect answer. Every incorrect answer choice on the LSAT has a valid, logical reason for being incorrect - containing a hard word is not one of them. Secondly, you may sometimes be unfamiliar with a word that is actually somewhat common! Every so often I'll come across a word that I've never seen before, but it turns out to be fairly well-known. Everybody has odd gaps in their vocabulary bank, so don't allow yours to trick you into crossing out a correct answer!

Instead, use context clues. What kind of word would make sense in the phrase "The purpose of this passage is to ____ the meaning of a scientific hypothesis"? My mind immediately jumps to "explain" as the most obvious word to fill in the gap. And try to think of words that contain similar roots (such as "lucid" in this case). In short - it's not a good idea to skip over an answer choice because it contains an unknown word, but the good news is that you can usually figure out what that answer choice is trying to convey anyway. Hope that helps!

[dlehr99]

That was my feeble attempt to find a shortcut on a test where there are so few, lol. Thanks for the additional tips - I'll certainly try to implement those strategies!

Dillon

[NJL2022]

Hi PS Staff,

To piggyback on JGonzalez515 and Jeremy's discussion, ans choice C is incorrect because it goes too far and makes the assumption the hypothesis is already understood by the audience? Rather than explaining, the AU is still in the beginning stages of his argument? I also chose C, but D makes more sense upon review. Just need a mental nudge in the right direction to clarify my thinking. Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

I think that may be a little backwards, NJL2022. If you are elucidating a point it is because the point needs further clarification and the audience might not already understand it. Answer C describes a passage that is all about simply explaining what a hypothesis means, making it easier to understand. Answer C is incorrect because this passage isn't explaining the meaning of the hypothesis, but is actually providing the evidence that supports the hypothesis and suggesting further avenues for study to find additional support.