PT30.S3.Q05 (P1) - the okapi, a forest mammal

TheDeterminedC

https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-30-section-3-passage-1-questions/

For question #5...

I initially got this question wrong and I stuck with my AC in BR. Needless to say, I am still confused even after the video explanation. I initially brought the answer choices down to B and E. In blind review, I looked very closely at the two. I see that there are assumptions made in both. In both instances, I knew this was a weakening question, so my false understanding lies somewhere in the answer choices/passage.

In AC B: why zoologists classifies the okapi as a member of the giraffe family?
I chose this answer twice. Lines number 4-13 are the contexts for this answer choice. The passage clearly lays out why "zoologists first classified it(okapis) as a member of the horse family." But it fails to say that zoologists now classify okapi as the giraffe family. What if they did not? The passage does not say the zoologists ever changed their classifications of the okapi, it simply states they were wrong. The passage picks back up on line 10 after this point, stating that the okapi have been confirmed as members of the giraffe family, but did the zoologists accept this change? Was the change in classification done by a different entity? It does not say. I can see how there are giraffe characteristics stated, but the AC says "why zoologists classifies the okapi" I simply cannot wrap my head around this.

In AC E: why okapis leave much preferred foliage uneaten?
Lines number 39 and 40 are the contexts for this answer choice. It gives the phenomena of the species not eating the preferred foliage, leaving much of it uneaten. So I asked myself in BR, WHY? Well, the answer is that they choose to sample other leaves. So, at this point, I am telling myself that this is an explanation. Great, I don't know why they chose to sample other plants, but I do know why they left the preferred foliage uneaten. I even went as far as to make analogies in order to make sure I was able to understand this question. For this AC, I thought of the analogy: why did John not eat all of his favorite food at the carnival? Well, John wanted to sample other food. I cannot wrap my head around why the passage did not "provide information intended to help explain this AC.

Thank you in advanced for reading this. I know it is quite a bit of text, but I figured that if I fully explained my thinking, it would be easier to critique.

BinghamtonDave

I think you are super super close on this one. The sentence in question states:"...even where preferred foliage is abundant, okapis will leave much of it uneaten, choosing to move on and sample other leaves." The answer choice in question says "why okapis leave much preferred foliage uneaten." I would amend your analogy to closer parallel the sentence as it appears: "John left much of popcorn at the carnival uneaten, choosing to move on and sample other foods."

Does sampling other foods preclude the possibility of leaving none of the popcorn uneaten? In other words, does it really tell us why one couldn't eat all the popcorn at the carnival and then choose to sample other foods? Does the mere fact that the okapi sampled other plants provide any reason of comparable strength to the other answer choices that they left "much" of another plant uneaten? What prevents the okapi from eating all of preferred foliage type x and then sampling preferred foliage types y and z? We don't know. We are simply given a description of what the okapi does.

Step back a few lines and see line 37: here we have the phenomena that lines 39 and 40 expands on. Do we have any explanatory mechanism for this phenomena? Do we know why this behavior occurs? We know that as a consequence of this particular behavior they engage in individual grazing, but do we know why this behavior emerges?

I hope this helps, this is really subtle. Excellent question and keep up the good work of really analyzing the answer choices like this.
David

TheDeterminedC

Ahhhh I see it now! It especially helped when I could not answer those questions you posed at the end of your comment. I will keep note of this question and reference it often. Thank you for your help.

And by the way, your analyses on questions throughout the course have been a tremendous help as well.