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- Wed Mar 22, 2017 4:08 pm
#33626
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=13789)
The correct answer choice is (C)
To answer this Must Be True/EXCEPT question, proceed by the process of elimination: four of the answer choices will contain statements with which the author is likely to agree, and will be incorrect. Questions of this type are usually time-consuming, because the correct answer choice must be the one we cannot prove by referring to information contained in the passage.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice is incorrect, because the author is likely to agree with it (even if she does not explicitly say so in the passage). Think of it this way: if Temple’s critics had definitively identified the reasons for Calvaria major’s durable pit wall, the author would surely have brought that up, because such a finding would have been directly relevant to the main point of the passage. The failure of the author to specify what actually caused the evolution of the pit wall is an omission suggesting that the cause is still unknown.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice contains a double negative and should be simplified: it holds that the durable nature of the pit walls could have hurt the tree’s survival. The author is likely to agree with this claim. Recall Speke’s observation that “only a minority of unabraded Calvaria major seeds germinate” (lines 55-56), suggesting that the thickness of the pit wall has been a contributing factor in the tree’s decline. The author implicitly agrees with the viewpoints of the experts described in the fourth paragraph, and Speke’s observation is no exception.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice, because the author does not appear particularly surprised by the population decline of Calvaria major. Such a decline is quite normal given the difficulty of getting Calvaria major seeds to germinate; in fact, the author herself proposes several factors that could have plausibly caused it (lines 58-62). Just because the precise cause for a particular phenomenon is yet to be identified does not mean that the phenomenon is unexpected or surprising.
Answer choice (D): This answer choice is incorrect, because the author does not seem to fear the immediate extinction of Calvaria major. In the fourth paragraph, she cites a research study showing that the number of germinating seeds is “probably sufficient to keep this species from becoming extinct” (lines 57-58). The author implicitly agrees with the leading experts in the field, suggesting that she would also agree with this claim.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice is incorrect, because the author is likely to agree that abrasion is not necessary for Calvaria major seeds to germinate. In the fourth paragraph, she describes Strahm’s finding of multiple Calvaria major specimens, “many far younger than three centuries” (lines 50-51). From this discovery the author concludes that “seeds have in fact germinated […] since the dodo’s disappearance” (lines 51-53), suggesting that thinning through abrasion is not necessary for germination.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=13789)
The correct answer choice is (C)
To answer this Must Be True/EXCEPT question, proceed by the process of elimination: four of the answer choices will contain statements with which the author is likely to agree, and will be incorrect. Questions of this type are usually time-consuming, because the correct answer choice must be the one we cannot prove by referring to information contained in the passage.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice is incorrect, because the author is likely to agree with it (even if she does not explicitly say so in the passage). Think of it this way: if Temple’s critics had definitively identified the reasons for Calvaria major’s durable pit wall, the author would surely have brought that up, because such a finding would have been directly relevant to the main point of the passage. The failure of the author to specify what actually caused the evolution of the pit wall is an omission suggesting that the cause is still unknown.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice contains a double negative and should be simplified: it holds that the durable nature of the pit walls could have hurt the tree’s survival. The author is likely to agree with this claim. Recall Speke’s observation that “only a minority of unabraded Calvaria major seeds germinate” (lines 55-56), suggesting that the thickness of the pit wall has been a contributing factor in the tree’s decline. The author implicitly agrees with the viewpoints of the experts described in the fourth paragraph, and Speke’s observation is no exception.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice, because the author does not appear particularly surprised by the population decline of Calvaria major. Such a decline is quite normal given the difficulty of getting Calvaria major seeds to germinate; in fact, the author herself proposes several factors that could have plausibly caused it (lines 58-62). Just because the precise cause for a particular phenomenon is yet to be identified does not mean that the phenomenon is unexpected or surprising.
Answer choice (D): This answer choice is incorrect, because the author does not seem to fear the immediate extinction of Calvaria major. In the fourth paragraph, she cites a research study showing that the number of germinating seeds is “probably sufficient to keep this species from becoming extinct” (lines 57-58). The author implicitly agrees with the leading experts in the field, suggesting that she would also agree with this claim.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice is incorrect, because the author is likely to agree that abrasion is not necessary for Calvaria major seeds to germinate. In the fourth paragraph, she describes Strahm’s finding of multiple Calvaria major specimens, “many far younger than three centuries” (lines 50-51). From this discovery the author concludes that “seeds have in fact germinated […] since the dodo’s disappearance” (lines 51-53), suggesting that thinning through abrasion is not necessary for germination.