LSAT 129 – Section 3 – Question 07

LSAT 129 - Section 3 - Question 07

June 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT129 S3 Q07
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
A
4%
162
B
1%
155
C
84%
165
D
10%
162
E
1%
157
120
132
153
 +Easiest 146.07 +SubsectionMedium

Scientists removed all viruses from a seawater sample and then measured the growth rate of the plankton population in the water. They expected the rate to increase dramatically, but the population actually got smaller.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Rather than growing as expected once viruses were removed from the environment, the plankton population shrank.

Objective
The correct answer will be a hypothesis that explains why the plankton population shrank. The explanation must explain why plankton do better in an environment with viruses rather than one without viruses, likely through some beneficial feature of viruses.

A
Viruses in seawater help to keep the plankton population below the maximum level that the resources in the water will support.
Without viruses, plankton still would’t be able to expand beyond the maximum level water resources support. We need to know why the plankton population actually shrank.
B
Plankton and viruses in seawater compete for some of the same nutrients.
If plankton and viruses are competitors, then the plankton population should’ve grown without the viruses. Instead, it shrank.
C
Plankton utilize the nutrients released by the death of organisms killed by viruses.
Viruses kill organisms which in turn feed plankton. Without viruses, the plankton population starved. This explains why the plankton population shrank.
D
The absence of viruses can facilitate the flourishing of bacteria that sometimes damage other organisms.
The language here is very weak. We don’t know if bacteria flourished without the viruses, or if plankton are one of the organisms those bacteria can damage.
E
At any given time, a considerable portion of the plankton in seawater are already infected by viruses.
This doesn’t explain why the plankton population shrank without the viruses. If many members were already infected, we need some other reason why the plankton population shrank further once the viruses were gone.

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LSAT PrepTest 129 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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