LSAT 2 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q21

LR Question 21 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: One method of dating the emergence of species is to compare…

QUESTION TYPE: Must be True

ANALYSIS: This is a bit tricky, if only because of the amount of information presented. Don’t hesitate to read it over again; I did. It will generally speed you up (by preventing you from wasting time staring at wrong answers) and cut your error rate.

The closer the date two species diverge the more closely related those two species are. Since raccoons diverged from bears before giant pandas did, then logically pandas must be more closely related to bears than raccoons are.

___________

1. We don’t know how closely related scientists originally thought giant pandas and red pandas were.
2. The stimulus clearly said there are seven species of bear. That opinion wasn’t modified.
3. The margin of error for the divergence of bears and raccoons was 20 million years! That’s more than “just a few years.”
4. CORRECT. This is true because raccoons diverged from bears earlier than giant pandas did.
5. Scientists would probably believe the opposite, since the two species diverged at different times.

Recap: The question begins with “One method of dating the emergence of species is to compare”. It is a Must be True question. Learn how to master LSAT MBT questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.