LSAT 151 – Section 2 – Question 07

LSAT 151 - Section 2 - Question 07

September 2018

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT151 S2 Q07
+LR
Miscellaneous +Misc
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Rule-Application +RuleApp
A
1%
155
B
3%
151
C
1%
145
D
8%
154
E
87%
162
133
142
151
 +Medium 147.144 +SubsectionMedium

Principle: People should not feed wild animals because it makes them dependent on humans and less likely to survive on their own.

Situation: Bird lovers commonly feed wild birds to attract them to their yards and gardens.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

How can feeding wild birds be justified when doing so makes the birds dependent on humans and less likely to survive on their own?

Objective

The stimulus provides a general principle and then a specific example of a behavior that defies the principle’s suggestion. In order to justify the specific example, the right answer must add some information about the lived reality of the bird lovers and the birds that the general principle fails to account for or consider.

A
Congregating around human bird feeders makes wild birds more vulnerable to predators and diseases.

This is the opposite of helpful. Instead of explaining why feeding birds could be justified, (A) adds another reason why it isn’t.

B
Some species of wild birds benefit humans by consuming large numbers of mosquitoes and other insect pests.

We need an answer that justifies feeding birds, not an explanation of how birds benefit humanity. Additionally, by describing how birds benefit humans, (B) adds to the importance of protecting birds, which does the opposite of justifying feeding—and thereby harming—them.

C
Wild birds are much more likely to congregate in yards where they are fed than in yards where they are not fed.

This makes sense—of course birds are more likely to flock to a place where they’re provided with food! If this answer went further and told us that bird congregation is good for birds in some way, it might’ve been right. As it is, (C) doesn’t provide the justification we need.

D
Most bird lovers are very active in efforts to preserve the habitats of threatened species of wild birds and other animals.

This has nothing to do with feeding birds, so it doesn’t justify that act. It might make us more sympathetic to bird lovers—at least they’re trying to preserve habitats even though they’re also harming birds by feeding them—but it doesn’t justify the choice to feed the birds.

E
Human settlement is so pervasive in the habitat of most wild birds that they must depend in part on human sources of food for survival.

This is the justification we’re looking for! Even if it’s theoretically bad to feed birds because it makes them dependent on humans, the reality is that most wild birds already depend on humans, so feeding them is actually important for their survival.

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LSAT PrepTest 151 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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