LSAT 156 – Section 2 – Question 02

LSAT 156 - Section 2 - Question 02

July 2020

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT156 S2 Q02
+LR
Weaken +Weak
A
11%
151
B
81%
158
C
2%
148
D
4%
152
E
1%
141
120
133
149
 +Easiest 145.275 +SubsectionEasier

Body temperature can be estimated by the relative proportion of two oxygen isotopes in bone. Such estimates derived from dinosaur fossils suggest that dinosaurs had nearly the same body temperature in their limbs as in the rest of their bodies. Typically, the core body temperature of cold-blooded animals today is much higher than the body temperature in their limbs. Thus, dinosaurs were probably warm-blooded.

Summarize Argument
Dinosaurs were likely warm-blooded because the oxygen isotopes in their bones suggest that their limbs had the same body temperature as the rest of their body. And typically, the body temperature of modern cold-blooded animals much is higher than their limbs.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the discrepancy in the body/limb temperature of modern cold-blooded animals was the same as cold-blooded animals during the time of the dinosaurs. The author also assumes that the process of determining body temperature from bones is applicable to dinosaur fossils.

A
Large warm-blooded animals keep their core body temperature slightly higher than the body temperature in their limbs.
This does not weaken because dinosaurs' core body and limb temperature are still much closer to the ratio of warm-blooded animals. Thus, this does not weaken the claim that dinosaurs were warm-blooded.
B
The fossilization process introduces changes to bones such that their original oxygen isotope ratios cannot be predicted.
This weakens the argument because it casts doubt on the process by which the evidence was discovered. If the fossilization process changes the oxygen distribution, then the evidence about the body temperature cannot be relied on to reach a sound conclusion.
C
Oxygen was more abundant in Earth’s atmosphere during the period in which the dinosaurs lived.
You must make several unwarranted assumptions to make this work. The fact that more oxygen was prevalent in the atmosphere does not mean dinosaur bones have more oxygen. AC B does a much better job of weakening the process of how the evidence was collected.
D
Small warm-blooded animals like mice tend to have more uniform body temperatures than do large warm-blooded animals like elephants.
This does not weaken the argument that dinosaurs are warm-blooded. This AC just compares small and large warm-blooded animals. You have to make many unwarranted assumptions for this to work.
E
Warm-blooded animals are more active and use more oxygen than cold-blooded animals.
This is irrelevant to the argument’s reasoning. This just provides a characteristic of warm-blooded animals but does not challenge the evidence or reasoning in the stimulus.

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LSAT PrepTest 156 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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