LSAT 140 – Section 3 – Question 08

LSAT 140 - Section 3 - Question 08

December 2013

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT140 S3 Q08
+LR
Strengthen +Streng
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
1%
155
B
1%
156
C
93%
165
D
1%
154
E
4%
156
129
139
148
 +Easier 149.74 +SubsectionMedium

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John of Worcester, an English monk, recorded the sighting, on December 8, 1128, of two unusually large sunspots. Five days later a brilliant aurora borealis (northern lights) was observed in southern Korea. Sunspot activity is typically followed by the appearance of an aurora borealis, after a span of time that averages five days. Thus, the Korean sighting helps to confirm John of Worcester’s sighting.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that the Korean sighting of the aurora borealis 5 days after John’s reported sighting of unusually large sunspots helps to confirm his reported observation. This is because sunspot activity is typically followed by the appearance of an aurora borealis after a time that average five days.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the observed aurora borealis did not appear as a result of phenomena unconnected to sunspot activity. This overlooks the possibility that many other phenomena could give rise to an aurora borealis, which could account for the Korean sighting of the aurora borealis.

A
An aurora borealis can sometimes occur even when there has been no significant sunspot activity in the previous week.
If anything, this undermines the argument by suggesting the aurora borealis may have occurred without any sunspot activity occurring five days before it.
B
Chinese sources recorded the sighting of sunspots more than 1000 years before John of Worcester did.
This simply indicates that sunspots have occurred for many years. But it doesn’t help confirm John’s reported sighting of sunspots or connect the aurora borealis with confirmation of John’s sighting.
C
Only heavy sunspot activity could have resulted in an aurora borealis viewable at a latitude as low as that of Korea.
This strengthens by eliminating other potential causes of the aurora borealis. Only sunspot activity could have created an aurora borealis viewable in Korea, so there must have been sunspot activity before the Korean sighting.
D
Because it is impossible to view sunspots with the naked eye under typical daylight conditions, the sighting recorded by John of Worcester would have taken place under unusual weather conditions such as fog or thin clouds.
This has no clear impact on John’s sighting. This simply gives more details about when his sighting would have occurred.
E
John of Worcester’s account included a drawing of the sunspots, which could be the earliest illustration of sunspot activity.
The fact John drew sunspots doesn’t help connect the Korean sighting of aurora borealis with John’s sighting of sunspots. What do drawings have to do with the aurora borealis? Nothing.

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LSAT PrepTest 140 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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