#10 - When a bird flies, powerful forces converge on its

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[LSATwhizkid00]

I was able to eliminate AC A, C, and D. I chose AC E over B, but it was nothing more than a hunch.

This is how I dissected the conditional reasoning in the argument:

a bird’s wings kept stable during flight something balancing these forces ligament that connects the wing to the shoulder joint.

So the ligament must be the thing that keeps a bird's wings stable during the flight.

I haven't been able to come up with a reason for why E is a better answer than B.

[Ben DiFabbio]

I was able to eliminate AC A, C, and D. I chose AC E over B, but it was nothing more than a hunch.

This is how I dissected the conditional reasoning in the argument:

a bird’s wings kept stable during flight something balancing these forces ligament that connects the wing to the shoulder joint.

So the ligament must be the thing that keeps a bird's wings stable during the flight.

I haven't been able to come up with a reason for why E is a better answer than B.

Hey Whiz,

The stimulus is basically telling us two things: 1) Birds need to stabilize in their wings in order to fly; and 2) the only thing in the bird body that could stabilize the wings is a certain ligament.

We can conclude that the ligament is the MEANS by which a flying bird stabilizes its wings. That's answer choice E.

However, we cannot conclude anything about the REASON why a bird's wings have to be stabilized in the first place. That would likely have something to do with force and physics and other science-y things that the information presented in the stimulus doesn't cover, and we're therefore not expected to know anything about. So that knocks out answer choice B as out of scope.

Hope that helps!

- Ben

[kingzjq]

Since you have mentioned: Flight --> stable --> balance forces --> ligament. And the conclusion is "so that ligament must be____"

I think what we expect to know is ligament---> ?

AC E sounds like ligament --> balance forces --> stable--> flight.

How did you get ligament --> balance forces --> stable--> flight?

How should we interpret "the means by"? Should it be "A-->B" or "A<--B"

[Jeremy Press]

Hi kingz,

There's a mixture of causal and conditional reasoning in this stimulus that is throwing you for a loop in your diagramming. The premises definitely state a line of conditional relationships, and those relationships can be diagrammed as you've correctly done (Flight Stable Balance Ligament). The correct answer (and best conclusion) is indeed answer choice E, which states a causal relationship. A "means" is something that activates, or allows for, a certain result. The ligament is the thing that allows for the stability the bird needs. So the relationship implied by answer choice E is not a conditional relationship, and it doesn't need to be harmonized with your diagramming chain. A very good question to ask is "how can we derive this causal relationship from what looks like a bunch of conditional statements?" Look at the last sentence of the premise chain, where it says "the only structure capable of balancing them [the forces] is a ligament." So not only is the ligament necessary (because it's the only thing available for the stated purpose), but it also has some causal power as well. In other words, the ligament is the thing that is providing the balance (it has a capacity, which is a causal power). Thus, answer choice E is validated by the phrase "capable of balancing." We don't need to diagram the relationship, or harmonize it with the conditional diagram. We simply need to see that the causal relationship is validated by the (causal) phrasing of the last premise.

I hope this helps!