LSAT 111 – Section 4 – Question 20

LSAT 111 - Section 4 - Question 20

October 2001

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT111 S4 Q20
+LR
Weaken +Weak
A
65%
166
B
19%
163
C
4%
160
D
6%
160
E
6%
160
143
157
171
 +Harder 144.86 +SubsectionEasier

Kevin’s explanation

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Archaeologist: A skeleton of a North American mastodon that became extinct at the peak of the Ice Age was recently discovered. It contains a human-made projectile dissimilar to any found in that part of Eurasia closest to North America. Thus, since Eurasians did not settle in North America until shortly before the peak of the Ice Age, the first Eurasian settlers in North America probably came from a more distant part of Eurasia.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The archaeologist concludes the first Eurasian settlers in North America were not the closest. Why? Because a projectile found in a mastodon is dissimilar from any in the closest part of Eurasia, and the first Eurasians in North America settled shortly before the North American mastodon went extinct.

Notable Assumptions
The archaeologist assumes the projectile could not have been made by people from the closest part of Eurasia, either because it resembles a projectile from elsewhere in Eurasia or because people from the closest part of Eurasia were less likely to develop a new projectile for some other reason. She also assumes that only the first settlers to North America from Eurasia could have made the projectile, and that it penetrated the mastodon while it was alive.

A
The projectile found in the mastodon does not resemble any that were used in Eurasia before or during the Ice Age.
This eliminates the distinction between the closest part of Eurasia and the rest of Eurasia. If the projectile doesn’t resemble any from Eurasia, there’s no reason to assume its makers came from farther in Eurasia.
B
The people who occupied the Eurasian area closest to North America remained nomadic throughout the Ice Age.
This doesn’t mean those people left the area closest to North America. It’s possible people in Eurasia maintained well-defined geographic boundaries despite living nomadic lifestyles.
C
The skeleton of a bear from the same place and time as the mastodon skeleton contains a similar projectile.
The species of prey is not relevant to the argument. The subsequent extinction of the mastodon implies the settlers who killed it were some of the early settlers, and the existence of a bear with the same projectile doesn’t change that fact.
D
Other North American artifacts from the peak of the Ice Age are similar to ones from the same time found in more distant parts of Eurasia.
This provides another reason to believe the archaeologist’s conclusion, but does not address her argument. The presence of these other artifacts does not challenge any assumption made by the archaeologist to draw her conclusion.
E
Climatic conditions in North America just before the Ice Age were more conducive to human habitation than were those in the part of Eurasia closest to North America at that time.
This draws no distinction between the parts of Eurasia closer to and farther from North America that calls into question the archaeologist’s conclusion. It’s possible the parts of Eurasia farther from North America were equally inhospitable.

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LSAT PrepTest 111 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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