LSAT 142 – Section 2 – Question 14

LSAT 142 - Section 2 - Question 14

December 2014

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT142 S2 Q14
+LR
+Exp
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Eliminating Options +ElimOpt
A
3%
157
B
1%
151
C
10%
160
D
77%
165
E
9%
160
135
148
161
 +Medium 146.338 +SubsectionMedium

Geologists recently discovered marks that closely resemble worm tracks in a piece of sandstone. These marks were made more than half a billion years earlier than the earliest known traces of multicellular animal life. Therefore, the marks are probably the traces of geological processes rather than of worms.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that the marks are traces of geological processes rather than worms. This is because the tracks were made long before multicellular life existed.

Notable Assumptions
The author believes that the only two things that could’ve made the marks are worms and geological processes. Thus, the author assumes there’s no relevant third factor that could’ve been responsible for the marks.

A
It is sometimes difficult to estimate the precise age of a piece of sandstone.
We don’t need the precise age. The marks were made millions of years before the advent of multicellular animal life.
B
Geological processes left a substantial variety of marks in sandstone more than half a billion years before the earliest known multicellular animal life existed.
This strengthens the author’s argument. If geological processes left a variety of marks, then some of those marks could’ve been the ones that look like they were left by worms.
C
There were some early life forms other than worms that are known to have left marks that are hard to distinguish from those found in the piece of sandstone.
These marks were left well before multicellular life existed. This talks about early life forms “other than worms,” which suggests these life forms were contemporaneous with worms.
D
At the place where the sandstone was found, the only geological processes that are likely to mark sandstone in ways that resemble worm tracks could not have occurred at the time the marks were made.
While worms are out of the question, so are geological processes. There must be some other explanation that the author overlooks.
E
Most scientists knowledgeable about early animal life believe that worms are likely to have been among the earliest forms of multicellular animal life on Earth, but evidence of their earliest existence is scarce because they are composed solely of soft tissue.
These marks were made millions of years before multicellular animal life existed. Regardless of how early worms were relative to other forms of animal life, they were still millions of years too late to leave the marks.

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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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