The pronghorn, an antelope-like mammal that lives on the western plains of North America, is the continent's fastest land animal, capable of running 90 kilometers per hour and of doing so for several kilometers. ███
Elaboration ·Relict behavior can disappear over time
Arctic squirrel lost extinct predator avoidance behavior after 3m years.
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis
Single position
17.
Based on the passage, the ████ ██████████ ██████████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████████ ████ ███████ ██████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
Question Type
Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Structure
Testing explanations based on relict behaviors is difficult because of the “extinction of a principal component.” Earlier, we’re told that a relict behavior is a behavior that exists due to “long-extinct environmental conditions.” What’s the “principal component” that is extinct, then? The environmental conditions that no longer exist, but that once allegedly caused evolutionary adaptations.
The “principal component” is something that’s extinct. But “behavior that persists” is behavior that continues...so it’s not extinct. That’s why (A) doesn’t make sense as the meaning of “principal component.”
b
the original organism █████ ████████████ ████████ ██ █████ ████████████ ██ ██████ ████████
As explained below the question stem, the “principal component” refers to the environmental conditions that are extinct, but that caused evolutionary adaptation of the behavior that we see today. Nothing in the passage suggests that the phrase refers to the original animal from which the animal whose relict behavior we are examining descended. (For example, the evolutionary ancestor of the pronghorn. Do biologists believe it’s difficult to test the relict behavior hypothesis for the pronghorn because the ancestor of the pronghorn no longer exists? No.)
The “principal component” is something that’s extinct. The pronghorn’s ability to run fast is something that exists today. So it doesn’t make sense for “principal component” to refer to the pronghorn’s running speed.
This best captures the meaning of “principal component” for the reasons explained below the question stem.
e
an original behavior ██ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ███████ ███████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ ██ █████████████
Explanations based on relict behavior don’t involve changes to original behaviors. In fact, they involve behavior that hasn’t changed.
Difficulty
82% of people who answer get this correct
This is a moderately difficult question.
It is similar in difficulty to other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%140
149
75%158
Analysis
Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Structure
Phenomenon-hypothesis
Science
Single position
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
5%
155
b
10%
158
c
0%
149
d
82%
165
e
2%
157
Question history
You don't have any history with this question.. yet!
You've discovered a premium feature!
Subscribe to unlock everything that 7Sage has to offer.
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you want to get going. Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you can continue!
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you came here to read all the amazing posts from our 300,000+ members. They all have accounts too! Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you’re free to discuss anything!
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you want to give us feedback! Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you’re free to vote on this!
Hold on there, you need to slow down.
We love that you want post in our discussion forum! Just come back in a bit to post again!
Subscribers can learn all the LSAT secrets.
Happens all the time: now that you've had a taste of the lessons, you just can't stop -- and you don't have to! Click the button.