LSAT 156 – Section 2 – Question 14

LSAT 156 - Section 2 - Question 14

July 2020

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT156 S2 Q14
+LR
Most strongly supported +MSS
A
2%
146
B
14%
152
C
10%
151
D
70%
159
E
3%
149
131
145
159
 +Medium 145.275 +SubsectionEasier

When polar ice caps grow (during ice ages, for example), lighter forms of oxygen from water vapor and seawater accumulate in the frozen ice caps, leaving greater concentrations of one heavy form of oxygen behind in the sea, where it is absorbed by marine organisms. When and as the ice caps shrink, the concentrations of this heavy oxygen in seawater decrease. During one 30,000-year period, concentrations of this heavy oxygen in sea shellfish increased for about 20,000 years, then decreased for 10,000 years.

Summary
When polar ice gaps grow, greater concentrations of a heavy oxygen form are left in the ocean, which gets absorbed by marine life. When polar ice caps shrink, lower concentrations of this heavy oxygen are left in the ocean. So, we can predict whether ice caps were growing or shrinking by examining the concentrations of heavy oxygen in sea life during a time period. During one 30,000 year period, concentrations of heavy oxygen increased during the first 20,000 years, then decreased in the remaining 10,000 years.

Strongly Supported Conclusions
Polar ice caps were growing during the first 20,000 years of that period, then shrinking during the last 10,000 years.

A
Average global temperatures 10,000 years after the beginning of the period approximately equaled average global temperatures 20,000 years later.
Unsupported, because the stimulus doesn’t give us evidence concerning average global temperature. Even if you think ice caps are evidence of global temperature, the stimulus would suggest global temperatures shrank over the first 20,000 years, because the ice caps were growing.
B
Polar ice caps at the beginning of the period were larger than they were at the end of the period.
Unsupported, because we don’t know the rate of growth or shrinkage. Ice caps grew for 20k years, then shrank for 10k years. But they could have grown much more than they shrank. This would mean the ice caps were larger at the end of the period.
C
The beginning of the period coincided with the onset of an ice age that lasted approximately 20,000 years.
Unsupported, because we don’t have reason to think that the period began at the “onset” of an ice age. An ice age could have been in effect for much longer, and the 30k period just begins in the final 20k years of an ongoing ice age.
D
The polar ice caps grew for about 20,000 years after the period began, then began to shrink.
Strongly supported, because concentrations of heavy oxygen grew for 20k years, then decreased for 10k years. This is evidence the ice caps grew during the first 20k years, then shrank in the next 10k years.
E
An ice age was drawing to an end during the first 20,000 years of the period.
Unsupported, because an ice age might have started at the beginning of the period and ended in 20k years. There’s no evidence that the 30k period began just as an existing ice age was ending.

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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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