LSAT 152 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q13

LR Question 13 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: When so many oysters died off the coast of Britain …

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox

PARADOX: The chemical TBT caused oysters to die. Legislation that banned TBT has now nearly eliminated the chemical, yet the oyster population hasn’t grown.

ANALYSIS: These are the facts:

1. The water is warmer.
2. Oysters died to the level of endangerment.
3. The oysters died because of TBT.
4. TBT is now nearly gone.
5. The endangered oyster population hasn’t recovered.

What would help explain why the oysters haven’t recovered? Maybe removing TBT from waters had some other effect that also harmed the endangered oysters. Or, maybe there’s another obstacle that’s still preventing recovery.

___________

1. This doesn’t matter because the warm water wasn’t the cause. They used to think it was the cause, but now they know it was actually TBT that caused the damage.
2. Irrelevant. The issue is why native oysters are not recovering after TBT was removed, not their feeding relationship with barnacles.
3. CORRECT. Removing TBT may have allowed imported oysters to rebound, and these now outcompete native oysters. So removing TBT didn’t remove the barrier to native recovery.
4. Great! But TBT did have an effect on them. So why didn’t they recover after TBT was removed?
5. Irrelevant now that TBT has largely been eliminated. If there’s barely any more TBT left, the water temperature doesn’t matter.