LSAT PrepTest 159 - Section 2 - Passage 3 - Question 19

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Since 1929, cosmologists have known that the universe is expanding. █████ █████████ ████ ███████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███ ███████ ████ ███████ ███ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ███████████ ███ ███ ██ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ ██ █████████ █████ █████ ██ ███████████ ██ █████ █████████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ ████ █████████ █████ ████████ █████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ████████ █████████████

Unexpected phenomenon · Expansion of universe is accelerating, rather than slowing down

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Two potential explanations · Both challenge current understanding of the universe

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Explanation 1 · Dark energy

The idea of energy stretching space dates back to Einstein. There’s some support for this theory.

Potential origin of dark energy · Created by “virtual” particles

The particles pop in and out of existence, creating “vacuum” energy.

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Inconsistent evidence · “Vacuum” energy theory of dark energy not supported

Explanation 2 · Gravity doesn’t work as predicted across large distances

Additional details about Explanation 2 · Theory is radical and might be easier to test than dark energy theory

Passage Style

Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)

19.

Which one of the following █████████ █ ██████ █████ ██████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████████

Question Type

Analogy (RC)

This is an Analogy question asking us about the "status" of the theory in the last paragraph. That theory is the explanation that gravity might not apply as predicted based on Einstein's theory of relativity. What's the status of this theory? The author calls it a "radical" theory that would require a change in our understanding of the theory of gravity. Let's look for an answer describing a theory that requires a radical change in our current understanding of a different theory.

A historian proposes █ ████████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ ██ ████████████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ████

We don't know whether the theory described in (A) requires a radical change in our understanding of a different theory.

A theory in █████████ ███████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ███████████ ███████████████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██ ████ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ███████ ██████████████

We don't know whether the theory described in (B) requires a radical change in our understanding of a different theory.

A bizarre astronomical ████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ███ █████████ ██ █████ ██ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██████ █████████ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ ███████

We don't know whether the theory described in (C) requires a radical change in our understanding of a different theory.

A current nutritional ██████ ██████████ ███████ █████ ██ ██████████ ███ █ ███ ████████████ ██████ █████ ██████ ████ █████ █████ ███ ██ ████ ███████

We don't know whether the theory described in (D) requires a radical change in our understanding of a different theory.

A new theory ██ ███████ ████████ ███████ █████████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██ ███ ██ █████████ ██ ████████████ ██ █████████ ██████████ ██████████ ██████████

This is the only answer describing a theory that requires a radical change ("drastic modifications") in our understanding of a different theory. (E)'s reference to the ability to confirm/disconfirm by examining currently observable biological phenomena is analogous to the way in which the theory in paragraph 4 can be tested in our own solar system.

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PrepTest 159 - Section 2 - Passage 3 - Question 19

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