LSAT 114 – Section 4 – Question 15

LSAT 114 - Section 4 - Question 15

October 2002

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Request new explanation

Target time: 1:44

This is question data from the 7Sage LSAT Scorer. You can score your LSATs, track your results, and analyze your performance with pretty charts and vital statistics - all with a Free Account ← sign up in less than 10 seconds

Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT114 S4 Q15
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Sampling +Smpl
Math +Math
A
7%
157
B
8%
158
C
11%
158
D
70%
164
E
4%
156
140
152
164
 +Medium 144.851 +SubsectionEasier

Loggerhead turtles live and breed in distinct groups, of which some are in the Pacific Ocean and some are in the Atlantic. New evidence suggests that juvenile Pacific loggerheads that feed near the Baja peninsula hatch in Japanese waters 10,000 kilometers away. Ninety-five percent of the DNA samples taken from the Baja turtles match those taken from turtles at the Japanese nesting sites.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that juvenile Pacific loggerhead turtles that feed near the Baja peninsula hatch 10,000 kilometers away, near Japan. As support for this hypothesis, the author says that 95% of the DNA from these turtles near the Baja peninsula matches the DNA of the turtles near Japan.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that a 95% DNA match is enough to conclude that different turtles belong to the same group.

A
Nesting sites of loggerhead turtles have been found off the Pacific coast of North America several thousand kilometers north of the Baja peninsula.
Our argument is whether or not the turtles near the Baja peninsula and the turtles near Japan belong to the same group; the fact that there are other nesting sites is irrelevant to the argument.
B
The distance between nesting sites and feeding sites of Atlantic loggerhead turtles is less than 5,000 kilometers.
This provides more information about conditions exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean, while our argument discusses Pacific turtles. This information does not impact our argument about the Pacific turtles.
C
Loggerhead hatchlings in Japanese waters have been declining in number for the last decade while the number of nesting sites near the Baja peninsula has remained constant.
This answer does not weaken the argument because it gives information about the number of hatchlings (aka individual turtles) near Japan, but the number of nesting sites near the Baja peninsula. Comparing these different data points is not useful and doesn’t weaken the argument.
D
Ninety-five percent of the DNA samples taken from the Baja turtles match those taken from Atlantic loggerhead turtles.
This tells us that two sets of turtles that are definitely from different groups (Atlantic turtles and Pacific turtles) have a 95% DNA match. If turtles from different groups can have 95% DNA match, then the argument loses its support.
E
Commercial aquariums have been successfully breeding Atlantic loggerheads with Pacific loggerheads for the last five years.
The argument is about turtles in the wild, and whether or not turtles found in two different areas belong to the same group. (E) does not provide any information that impacts this argument.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 114 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply