#10 - Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=50)

The correct answer choice is (D)

The question stem asks why the author mentioned that LHB “should have also struck Earth” at lines 8-9. Apparently the author considers this relevant because of the “profound consequences for the history of the Earth since, until the LHB ended, life could not have survived here.”

Answer choice (A): The referenced phrase does not address any particular theory regarding the extent of LHB, so this answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): The author’s quote does not question the lack of LHB evidence on earth—the author only discusses the need for more evidence toward the end of the passage.

Answer choice (C): The phrase is not used to advocate any scientific model, but rather to point out the relevance of the timing of the LHB, so this answer choice should be eliminated.

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. The referenced quote is a part of the author’s explanation of the relevance of the LHB, and its profound consequences for the history of the Earth, which is why scientists are interested in studying it.

Answer choice (E): The referenced quote does not provide additional support for the dating of the LHB—the author apparently relies on the LHB theory to make this assertion, which is made in the interest of highlighting the relevance of the LHB to the history of life on Earth.

[lday4]

What would you say is the best way to glean the info that D is correct and this is why scientists are so interested in the LHB? I see how ABC aren't great answers, but I was pulled into E since if life couldn't exist on earth until after the LHB, that helps with some dating aspects if if you don't need them.

Thanks!

[David Boyle]

What would you say is the best way to glean the info that D is correct and this is why scientists are so interested in the LHB? I see how ABC aren't great answers, but I was pulled into E since if life couldn't exist on earth until after the LHB, that helps with some dating aspects if if you don't need them.

Thanks!

Hello lday4,

Answer E, " introduce additional support for the dating of the LHB", may be not only too specific but also a little superfluous, since the LHB may already be dated (4 billion years ago). Answer D, "provide a reason why scientists are interested in studying the LHB", is a little more general, which seems to go with the stimulus better.

Hope this helps,
David

[lsat2016]

Answer E, " introduce additional support for the dating of the LHB", may be not only too specific but also a little superfluous, since the LHB may already be dated (4 billion years ago).

Hello,

I thought D was superfluous because “providing a reason why scientists are interested in studying the LHB” was not really an important point in the text. The passage deals with the explanations for the LHB and I thought it was a bit off topic to talk about scientists’ interest in the topic. With this in mind, I though that E was a better answer choice than D. However, I was also hesitant with E as well because the passage also wasn’t about an effort to argue that we need to study LHB. In fact, the research that was provided seems to confirm that studies are already being done.

Thank you!

[snowy]

Can I bump lsat2016's question? I was between B and D for this one, and even a little bit E. I ultimately went with D, but wasn't fully convinced that D was correct because of what lsat2016 said.

For B, the use of "should have" in lines 7-9 seem to imply that while this should have happened, it doesn't seem to have occurred - making B a strong contender for me. And even though LHB is dated earlier in the paragraph, it does seem as though E is possible too since it does distinguish "aditional support.

Thank you in advance!!

[Brook Miscoski]

Snowy,

(B) The passage didn't question the lack of LHB evidence on Earth, it simply focused (mostly) on the moon and gave one example of evidence found on Earth (a Mars rock).
(D) The passage starts by introducing a "vigorous debate" among scientists, so indicating that the Earth would have been profoundly affected does provide some reason why scientists are interested. LSAT2016 focused on the primary purpose of the passage instead of the primary purpose of the line, which can be two different things. Additionally, it is not irrelevant to explain why the topic is of interest, even when that's not the focus of the passage. It's quite common to start off by explaining why the audience should pay attention.
(E) I don't see any evidence to support this answer.

In short, you did well to chose (D).

[flexbubbleboi]

I'm having a hard time ruling out A. The passage is discussing the range of planets and moons that were impacted by the LHB. This sentence supports the theory that the LHB struck Earth, so that's why I picked A.

I don't see any sections that indicate that scientists are interested in the LHB because it may have struck Earth -- they're interested in all of the bodies it struck, right?

Thank you for your help.

[AspenHerman]

Can I bump flexbubbleboi?

It seemed like lines 9-11 were just a casual aside, and there doesn't seem to be an phrasing that indicates that they were interested in studying the LHB because of it's effect on earth.

Major aside: take a look at the book "Seveneves" by Neal Stephenson... it's about how the moon got hit with something, exploded, and then the moon rocks bombarded the Earth until the atmosphere caught fire. It's a really cool, nerdy, doomsday book... and this passage reminded me of it.

[Ryan Twomey]

Hey AsspenHerman and Flexbubbleboi,


So these lines do not support a particular theory. There were 3 theories mentioned in the passage, and each theory had the event occurring on earth, so these sentences do not support one of the theories over another, making answer choice A an incorrect answer.

I consider theories to be viewpoints, so I would slow down when each theory is introduced and try and understand how each theory is different from one another. The theories differed in their view of the cause of the bombardment and the extent of the bombardment. But all three theories believe that the earth and the moon were involved in the bombardment.

So my pre-phrase to this question was that the author introduced this information for context, since it did not support one of the theories over another. The closest answer choice to my pre-phrase was answer choice D.

I hope this explanation makes sense, and I wish you all of the luck in your studies.

Best,
Ryan

[AspenHerman]

Hey AsspenHerman and Flexbubbleboi,


So these lines do not support a particular theory. There were 3 theories mentioned in the passage, and each theory had the event occurring on earth, so these sentences do not support one of the theories over another, making answer choice A an incorrect answer.

I consider theories to be viewpoints, so I would slow down when each theory is introduced and try and understand how each theory is different from one another. The theories differed in their view of the cause of the bombardment and the extent of the bombardment. But all three theories believe that the earth and the moon were involved in the bombardment.

So my pre-phrase to this question was that the author introduced this information for context, since it did not support one of the theories over another. The closest answer choice to my pre-phrase was answer choice D.

I hope this explanation makes sense, and I wish you all of the luck in your studies.

Best,
Ryan

Okay thank you. I see what you are getting at. It's kind of the best answer of some not really great answers. Look for the neutral similarity and then choose an answer (in this case) that includes it.