LSAT 142 – Section 1 – Question 15

LSAT 142 - Section 1 - Question 15

December 2014

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT142 S1 Q15
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
3%
156
B
1%
151
C
1%
153
D
3%
156
E
92%
164
134
142
150
 +Medium 145.991 +SubsectionMedium

Researcher: Salmonella bacteria are a major cause of illness in humans who consume poultry. Young chicks that underwent a new treatment exhibited a lower incidence of Salmonella infection than did untreated chicks, although one week after the treatment was administered the treated chicks had higher concentrations of a variety of bacteria than did untreated chicks.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

Why did the young chicks that were given the new treatment have higher concentrations of a variety of bacteria than untreated chicks, even though they had lower rates of Salmonella?

Objective

The correct answer will be a hypothesis explaining a key difference between Salmonella and the other variety of bacteria. This difference should explain why treated chicks have lower Salmonella rates but higher levels of the other bacteria, either by showing how the treatment impacts both or how the bacteria interact with each other.

A
The new treatment takes several weeks to administer.

The effects of the treatment remain, regardless of how long it takes to administer. We are concerned with the end result and need an explanation for why treated chicks have lower Salmonella rates but higher levels of the other bacteria after the treatment is administered.

B
Levels of Salmonella bacteria in young chicks are generally not high to begin with.

We are not concerned with the initial rates of Salmonella in young chicks. Instead, we are looking at the change in the rate of Salmonella and the other variety of bacteria after chicks receive treatment.

C
Most chicks develop resistance to many harmful bacteria by the time they reach adulthood.

Adult chickens' resistance to bacteria doesn’t tell us about bacteria levels in young chicks. Also, even if the chicks are resistant to many harmful bacteria, we still need to know why they have higher levels of this specific bacteria one week after the new treatment.

D
The untreated chicks experienced a higher incidence of illness from infection by bacteria other than Salmonella than did treated chicks.

The untreated chicks’ incidence of illness doesn’t explain why treated chicks have lower Salmonella rates but higher levels of other bacteria. Also, we don’t know that the “other bacteria” in (D) is the same as the “other bacteria” in the stimulus.

E
The bacteria found in the treated chicks were nonvirulent types whose growth is inhibited by Salmonella bacteria.

This explains why treated chicks have higher levels of the other bacteria: without Salmonella, which normally limits their growth, the other bacteria can increase. The treatment reduces Salmonella, allowing the other bacteria to increase among treated chicks.

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LSAT PrepTest 142 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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