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- Wed May 10, 2017 3:10 pm
#34695
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14060)
The correct answer choice is (B)
Due to the broad scope of this question, it is inefficient to prephrase the correct answer choice. Instead, focus on applying the Fact Test to eliminate answer choices that are inconsistent with the Author’s view, namely that the strict constructionist Darwinists have put forward a view that is inconsistent with Darwin’s own explicit statements and the evidence discussed from the fields of genetics and paleontology.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice is a distortion of the Author’s view. While the Author did state that most genetic mutations are nonadaptive, there is no evidence is to support the statement that natural selection accounts for “almost none of the characteristics of existing species.”
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice, although at first it may seem a bit counterintuitive. We know the Author would agree with this statement because it corresponds to the fourth paragraph’s example of the mammals that thrived after the extinction of the dinosaurs in an environment, created by a chance, cataclysmic impact, and to which they had not adapted genetically.
Answer choice (C): The Author directly contradicts this statement in the third paragraph, stating that “neutral, nonadaptive changes account to a large extent for the evolution of DNA.” (Lines 29-31).
Answer choice (D): Here, the answer choice over-generalizes the evidence offered in the fourth paragraph about the inability of the dinosaurs to adapt to the climatic change caused by the impact of an extraterrestrial body.
Answer choice (E): This statement is inconsistent with the Author’s claim in the second paragraph that natural selection “is generally held to result in adaptation, the shaping of an organism’s form and behavior...” (Lines 13-15). The confusing aspect of this answer choice is that it distorts the Author’s position that natural selection is not responsible for most genetic adaptations. However, the Author would say that when natural selection is at play, it is useful for explaining both the form and behavior of a species.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14060)
The correct answer choice is (B)
Due to the broad scope of this question, it is inefficient to prephrase the correct answer choice. Instead, focus on applying the Fact Test to eliminate answer choices that are inconsistent with the Author’s view, namely that the strict constructionist Darwinists have put forward a view that is inconsistent with Darwin’s own explicit statements and the evidence discussed from the fields of genetics and paleontology.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice is a distortion of the Author’s view. While the Author did state that most genetic mutations are nonadaptive, there is no evidence is to support the statement that natural selection accounts for “almost none of the characteristics of existing species.”
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice, although at first it may seem a bit counterintuitive. We know the Author would agree with this statement because it corresponds to the fourth paragraph’s example of the mammals that thrived after the extinction of the dinosaurs in an environment, created by a chance, cataclysmic impact, and to which they had not adapted genetically.
Answer choice (C): The Author directly contradicts this statement in the third paragraph, stating that “neutral, nonadaptive changes account to a large extent for the evolution of DNA.” (Lines 29-31).
Answer choice (D): Here, the answer choice over-generalizes the evidence offered in the fourth paragraph about the inability of the dinosaurs to adapt to the climatic change caused by the impact of an extraterrestrial body.
Answer choice (E): This statement is inconsistent with the Author’s claim in the second paragraph that natural selection “is generally held to result in adaptation, the shaping of an organism’s form and behavior...” (Lines 13-15). The confusing aspect of this answer choice is that it distorts the Author’s position that natural selection is not responsible for most genetic adaptations. However, the Author would say that when natural selection is at play, it is useful for explaining both the form and behavior of a species.