PT156.S1.P4.Q22 > Analytics

Hide analysis

Discovered in 1993, the site known as Ukhaa Tolgod, in the Gobi desert of Mongolia, is one of the world's best sources of fossils from the Late Cretaceous period, which ended about 65 million years ago. ███ █████████ ███████ ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ████ █████ █████████ ████████ ██████████ ████ ████ █ ███████████ ███████ ███ ███████████████ ████ ██████████ ███

Phenomenon · Well preserved fossils

How did they form?

Hypothesis · Sandstorm buried the animals

████████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ██████████ ██ █████ ██████ █████████ ████ ████ █████████ ██████████ ██ ████████ █████████

Hypothesis wrong · New evidence calls sandstorm hypothesis into question

███ ██████████ █████ ████ █████ ███ █████ ████████ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ███

Details of Phenomenon · Three different types of sandstone at the site

1st Type · Well-defined structure

Consistent with sandstorm hypothesis...

███ ██████ ████ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ████ ████████████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ███ ████████████ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ███

2nd Type · Tilt and layering

Also consistent with sandstorm hypothesis...

3rd Type · No layering; contains large pebbles

Inconsistent with sandstorm hypothesis because the pebbles are too large to have been windblown. This is the type that contains all of the vertebrate skeletal fossils.

████ █████ ████ ██ █████████ ████████ █ █████████ ███████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ █ ██████████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████ ████████ ████ █████ ████ █████ ██████ ██████████ █ ██████ ██████ █████ ███ █████████ █████████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ██ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ █ ████ █████████ ██ █████████ ████ █ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██████████ ██████ █████ ████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████

Alternate Hypothesis · Sand avalanche caused fossils

Avalanche trapped animals in its path, resulting in the pristine quality of the remains.

███ █████ ██ █████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ ███████████ ███

Phenomenon · Avalanche / sandslides

What caused them?

████████ █████ ██ ████████ ████ ████ █████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ █████████ ████ █████████ █████████ ██ ████ ██████ ███ █████████ ████ █████ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ██████████ ████████ ████████ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ████ ██████ ████ █████████ █████████ █████ █████ ███ █████████ █████ █ █████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ████ ████ █ ██████ █████ ███

Hypothesis · Unclear; clay played a role

Unclear but likely clay and rain played a role.

Evidence · Modern sand dunes

Implications of hypothesis · Sandslide hypothesis suggests area was not sterile desert

Passage Style

Critique or debate

Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)

22.

Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████

Question Type

Main point

The author proposes a hypothesis for why the fossils at Ukhaa Tolgod are so well-preserved. Rejecting the view that sandstorms caused the fossils to be well-preserved, the author proposes that sandslides may be the true explanation. The author advances this hypothesis in P2, P3 and P4, after discussing evidence against the sandstorm hypothesis in P2. Let’s look for an answer that capture the hypothesis the author advocates.

Some scientists have ████ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ███████████ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██████████ ██ █████ ██████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███████ ████ ███████

This doesn’t capture the author’s believe that sandslides, not sandstorms, may explain why the fossils are so well-preserved.

Though the causes ██ ████████████ ██████████ ██ █████ ███ ███ ████████ ███████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █ ██████████ ███████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ████ ████████ ██ █████ ███████

Not supported, because the author never suggests that scientists have “settled” on an explanation for how sandslides occurred at Ukhaa Tolgod. It’s not even an established fact that sandslides occurred at this location. The author proposes evidence that sandslides occurred, but it’s not an established fact that anyone has a settled view about. Since (B) isn’t supported, it can’t be the main point.

Investigations of geological ██████████ ██ █████ ██████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████████ █████ ████████ ██ ████████ ████████████ ███ ████ ██████ ███ ████ █ ██████ ████ ██████

This doesn’t capture the author’s believe that sandslides, not sandstorms, may explain why the fossils are so well-preserved. Although it’s true that the author believes Ukhaa Tolgod may have been a stable dune field, the point isn’t to establish this possibility. It’s to explain why the fossils at Ukhaa Tolgod are so well preserved.

22%

Geological evidence suggests ████ ███ ███████ █████ ██████████ █████████ ████ ████ █████ ██ █████ ██████ ████ ████ ████████████ ██████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████████

This best captures the author’s main point, which is that there’s evidence sandslides, not sandstorms, preserved the fossils at Ukhaa Tolgod. The author suggests that animals died from sandslides, which helped preserve their fossils. The author advances this hypothesis in P2, P3 and P4, after discussing evidence against the sandstorm hypothesis in P2. Let’s look for an answer that capture the hypothesis the author advocates.

70%

The search for ██████████ █████████ ███████ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ █████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ █████ ███████ █████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████

This doesn’t capture the author’s believe that sandslides, not sandstorms, may explain why the fossils are so well-preserved.

Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.

It takes about five minutes.

Take the free diagnostic

More free LSAT prep: Sample LSAT questions Full-length diagnostic & practice test All free LSAT resources

PrepTest 156 - Section 1 - Passage 4 - Question 22

Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.

Difficulty

Analysis

Answer Popularity

Question history

Confirm action

PrepTest 156 - Section 1 - Passage 4 - Question 22

Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.

Difficulty

Analysis

Answer Popularity

Question history

Want to know why the right answer is right?