LSAT 152 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q18

LR Question 18 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In an island nature preserve, Common Eider nests are found …

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox

ANALYSIS: There are three options for nests here, in order of most to least concealing:

1. Woody vegetation
2. Wooden boxes
3. Open grasslands

All three types of nests are roughly equally common.

Some Common Eiders lay their eggs in other birds’ nests to protect the eggs from predators. So you’d expect them to choose the most concealed option (woody vegetation), but actually, they choose wooden boxes most often.

If their goal is safety, why aren’t they choosing the most hidden option? The stimulus already rules out the option that there’s more wooden boxes. We know that all three types of nests are roughly equally common.

So there must be some explanation why the apparently safest option is not actually the easiest or best option to choose.

___________

1. This tells us some birds later build their own nests. It does not explain why they choose wooden boxes over concealed nests.
2. CORRECT. If concealed nests in woody vegetation are hard to detect, then the birds may choose wooden boxes simply because they can find them more easily. This explains why they don’t pick the seemingly safer concealed nests.
3. Defensive behavior might deter intruding birds, but it does not explain why wooden boxes are chosen more often than woody vegetation.
4. Human alteration of the preserve is too general. It does not explain the preference for wooden boxes.
5. This explains why safety from predators matters, but it gives us more reason to expect more concealed nests. It doesn’t explain why wooden boxes are chosen more often.