LSAT 46 - Section 3 - Question 01

The question stem reads: Which one of the following, if true, best resolves the discrepancy above? This is a Resolve Reconcile Explain question.

In the Core Curriculum, we discussed how our job is to develop a hypothesis or explanation for the seemingly contradictory phenomena the stimulus provides. The stimulus tells us that "Sambar deer are physically incapable of digesting meat." Ok, the deer cannot consume and process meat for energy. But the stimulus also tells us that Sambar deer have been observed killing and feeding on box turtles. That’s puzzling. If the deer can’t eat meat, why are they killing and eating the box turtles? Our job is to explain that exact question.

Before we move into the answer choices, let's do some prephasing. We know that Sambar deer are incapable of digesting meat, so it would be bizarre if we noticed the deer consuming turtle meat. However, the stimulus says that the deer have been observed eating turtles. Is there more to a turtle than its meat? Of course there is! Perhaps the deer are eating the turtles' bones, skin, or eyes (are eyes meat? I digress). That would help explain the phenomena. The deer can’t digest meat, but they are not hunting and eating the turtles' meat; they are eating something else. Now that we have a solid prephase, we can join the Sambar deer and go hunting.

Correct Answer Choice (A) is exactly what we prephrased. (A) explains that the deer eat only the bony shell of the turtles. The deer are not killing and eating the turtles for meat (which the deer cannot digest); they are killing and eating the turtles for their shells.

Answer Choice (B) almost looks good but only provides a partial explanation. If you picked (B), you likely realized that (B) would explain why the deer kill the turtles when they cannot eat them. The deer aren't hunting the turtles. The deer are killing turtles by accident (turtle-slaughter?) However, (B) fails to explain why the deer go on to eat their unfortunate victims. Imagine your friend found you feeding on the carcass of a squirrel you had recently driven over and asked, "why are you doing that?" Responding through your blood-soaked teeth with, "I did it by accident," would leave your friend mildly horrified and still confused. For that reason, (B) is out.

Answer Choice (C) fails to explain both the eating and the killing. The fact that the deer kill and eat the turtles only on occasion does nothing to explain why they kill and eat the turtles when they cannot digest meat.

Answer Choice (D) is similar to (B) in providing only a partial explanation. (D) says that the turtles compete with the deer for food. That might explain why the deer have the incentive to kill the turtles. If they kill the turtles, the deer won't have to compete with them for food. However, that does not explain why they go on to eat the turtles. You could argue that the eating of the turtles is to strike fear into the other turtle's hearts and warn them away from the deer's territory. But at that point, though, we are making too many assumptions to make (D) work. So (D) is out.

Answer Choice (E) would explain how the deer are able to kill the turtles by saying that the deer are faster and more agile. However, our job isn’t to explain how the deer are killing the turtles, but why the deer are killing the turtles. For that reason, (E) is out.