LSAT 114 – Section 2 – Question 22

LSAT 114 - Section 2 - Question 22

October 2002

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

Request new explanation

Target time: 1:48

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
PT114 S2 Q22
+LR
+Exp
Most strongly supported +MSS
A
4%
163
B
17%
164
C
11%
162
D
5%
157
E
63%
168
148
160
172
 +Hardest 145.502 +SubsectionMedium

Some types of organisms originated through endosymbiosis, the engulfing of one organism by another so that a part of the former becomes a functioning part of the latter. An unusual nucleomorph, a structure that contains DNA and resembles a cell nucleus, has been discovered within a plant known as a chlorarachniophyte. Two versions of a particular gene have been found in the DNA of this nucleomorph, and one would expect to find only a single version of this gene if the nucleomorph were not the remains of an engulfed organism’s nucleus.

Summary
Organisms can be created through endosymbiosis, which is when organism A absorbs organism B, so organism B becomes part of organism A. We’ve also learned that a particular plant, “C,” contains a strange nucleomorph. Nucleomorphs are similar to cell nuclei, and contain DNA. The nucleomorph in plant C is strange because its DNA has two copies of a certain gene, which we would only expect if the nucleomorph had originally been an absorbed organism’s nucleus.

Strongly Supported Conclusions
The facts above strongly support the conclusion that the nucleomorph in plant C was originally an organism that was absorbed, meaning that plant C is a product of endosymbiosis.

A
Only organisms of types that originated through endosymbiosis contain nucleomorphs.
This is not supported. The stimulus doesn’t reveal much about where nucleomorphs come from. We can infer that the nucleomorph in plant C comes from endosymbiosis based on the facts given, but that doesn’t tell us about the origins of other nucleomorphs.
B
A nucleomorph within the chlorarachniophyte holds all of the genetic material of some other organism.
This is not supported. We know that the nucleomorph in plant C contains some DNA, but we definitely don’t have enough information to say that the DNA is a full copy of another organism’s genetic material.
C
Nucleomorphs originated when an organism endosymbiotically engulfed a chlorarachniophyte.
This is anti-supported. From the facts, we know that plant C itself contains at least one nucleomorph, so it wouldn’t make sense for nucleomorphs to originate from plant C getting absorbed. For that to work, plant C would have to absorb itself, which is far-fetched.
D
Two organisms will not undergo endosymbiosis unless at least one of them contains a nucleomorph.
This is not supported. The stimulus doesn’t suggest much about the relationship between endosymbiosis and nucleomorphs. We definitely can’t say that an organism already containing a nucleomorph is necessary for endosymbiosis to occur.
E
Chlorarachniophytes emerged as the result of two organisms having undergone endosymbiosis.
This is strongly supported. The stimulus strongly implies that the nucleomorph within plant C used to be another organism that was absorbed, and we know that endosymbiosis is the name for that process. Thus, plant C probably comes from endosymbiosis.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 114 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply