LSAT 111 – Section 1 – Question 08

LSAT 111 - Section 1 - Question 08

October 2001

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT111 S1 Q08
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Net Effect +NetEff
A
6%
157
B
16%
161
C
9%
161
D
3%
162
E
66%
166
144
156
168
 +Harder 147.471 +SubsectionMedium

Kevin’s explanation

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Lobsters and other crustaceans eaten by humans are more likely to contract gill diseases when sewage contaminates their water. Under a recent proposal, millions of gallons of local sewage each day would be rerouted many kilometers offshore. Although this would substantially reduce the amount of sewage in the harbor where lobsters are caught, the proposal is pointless, because hardly any lobsters live long enough to be harmed by those diseases.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that rerouting the sewage is pointless. Why? Because most lobsters are too short-lived to suffer from the gill diseases that rerouting the sewage would prevent.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes there is no other worthwhile reason for the sewage to be rerouted. In particular, he assumes that if lobsters are not harmed by sewage-caused gill diseases, then there’s no use in trying to prevent them.

A
Contaminants in the harbor other than sewage are equally harmful to lobsters.
This strengthens the argument. If non-sewage contaminants are equally dangerous, then rerouting the sewage will not protect the lobsters much, if at all.
B
Lobsters, like other crustaceans, live longer in the open ocean than in industrial harbors.
This does not say lobsters live only in the open ocean. It’s possible the lobsters caught for human consumption live mainly in industrial harbors.
C
Lobsters breed as readily in sewage-contaminated water as in unpolluted water.
This strengthens the argument by eliminating one possible reason for the sewage to be rerouted.
D
Gill diseases cannot be detected by examining the surface of the lobster.
This is not relevant. There’s no indication the detection of gill diseases from the outside makes lobsters more or less healthy or dangerous.
E
Humans often become ill as a result of eating lobsters with gill diseases.
This is a reason to reroute the sewage. Though lobsters themselves may not suffer from sewage-contaminated water, humans eating them will.

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LSAT PrepTest 111 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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