LSAT 158 – Section 3 – Question 06

LSAT 158 - Section 3 - Question 06

May 2020

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

Request new explanation

Target time: 0:54

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
PT158 S3 Q06
+LR
+Exp
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
3%
149
B
93%
161
C
1%
149
D
2%
150
E
1%
145
126
135
143
 +Easier 145.724 +SubsectionMedium

Surprisingly, a new study has revealed that shortly after a heavy rainfall, pollution levels in Crystal Bay reach their highest levels. This occurs despite the fact that rainwater is almost totally pure and one would therefore expect that it would dilute the polluted seawater.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why are pollution levels in Crystal Bay highest shortly after a heavy rainfall, even though rainwater doesn’t contain pollution, so we would expect rainwater to dilute the polluted seawater?

Objective
The correct answer should tell us something about heavy rainfall that might lead to an overall increase in pollution, even if the water in rainwater doesn’t contain pollution.

A
Compared to the total amount of polluted seawater, the amount of rainwater that falls into Crystal Bay is negligible.
This would lead us to expect rainfall to leave pollution levels unchanged. But we’re trying to explain why there’s an increase in pollution levels after rainfall.
B
Most of the rainwater that eventually reaches Crystal Bay falls on pesticide-treated fields before being carried into the bay.
This suggests that, although the rainwater itself doesn’t contain pollution, it can carry or otherwise bring pollution (pesticides) into the bay. This can help explain why pollution levels increase shortly after heavy rainfall.
C
Most rainwater carried by clouds consists of water that has evaporated from oceans around the world.
We have no reason to think rainwater from evaporation is particularly pollution-heavy compared to other kinds of rainwater. And, we know that rainwater is “almost totally pure.” So, we’d still expect rainfall not to increase pollution levels.
D
The single leading cause of pollution in Crystal Bay is beachgoers’ leaving behind their trash and debris, which then blows into the bay.
There may be other, more significant sources of pollution, such as beachgoers’ trash. But we don’t have any reason to think beachgoing increases or the amount of trash left increases after heavy rainfall. So, we still wouldn’t expect pollution levels to be highest after rain.
E
Other nearby ocean areas experience a pattern of pollutant increase and decrease that is extremely similar to that of Crystal Bay.
Even if other areas experience higher pollution levels after rainfall, that doesn’t explain why this pattern occurs in Crystal Bay. We’re still left without any reason to think the pollution levels would increase after heavy rain.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 158 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply