LSAT 109 – Section 1 – Question 08

LSAT 109 - Section 1 - Question 08

December 2000

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT109 S1 Q08
+LR
Except +Exc
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
2%
161
B
5%
161
C
2%
159
D
3%
163
E
87%
167
124
139
153
 +Easier 148.877 +SubsectionMedium

Few animals brave the midday heat of the Sahara desert. An exception is the silver ant, which chooses this time of day to leave its nest and scout for food, typically the corpses of heat-stricken animals. Even the silver ant, however, must be careful: at such times they can become victims of the heat themselves.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why does the silver ant leave its nest to scavenge at midday, when it is vulnerable to the heat?

Objective
The correct answer must present an unsatisfactory hypothesis, one that fails to explain why the silver ant leaves its nest at midday. Every wrong answer, meanwhile, will identify a difference between midday and other times of day that implies midday is a safer or more effective time for the ants to scavenge.

A
The chief predators of the silver ant must take cover from the sun during midday.
This is a reason for silver ants to risk the midday heat. The ants’ predators are hiding, so midday is safer than other times of day, despite the heat.
B
The cues that silver ants use to navigate become less reliable as the afternoon progresses.
This is a reason for silver ants to risk the midday heat. If the ants’ navigation becomes less reliable later in the day, they have an incentive to scavenge earlier.
C
Other scavengers remove any remaining corpses as soon as the temperature begins to drop in the afternoon.
This is a reason for silver ants to risk the midday heat. Their food will be taken by other scavengers in the afternoon, so the ants cannot wait for temperatures to drop before scavenging.
D
The temperature inside the silver ants’ nests often exceeds the surface temperature during the hottest times of the day.
This is a reason for silver ants to risk the midday heat. If the ants’ nest is warmer than the surface near midday, then they actually escape the heat by leaving.
E
Silver ants cool themselves by climbing onto small pieces of dried vegetation to take advantage of random light breezes.
This does not explain why the ants choose midday for scavenging. It identifies a mechanism the ants use to cool down, but states nothing about midday that explains the ants’ scavenging schedule.

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LSAT PrepTest 109 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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