LSAT 23 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q13

LR Question 13 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In 1988, a significant percentage of seals in the…

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: Pollutants caused Baltic seals to die at a higher rate from viruses than did Scottish seals.

REASONING: Pollution can affect seals’ ability to fight viruses.

ANALYSIS: There are a million and one other reasons the seals could have died. The right answer will help eliminate alternate causes.

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1. This adds nothing. Maybe the Baltic seals that died were also old and unhealthy.
2. This makes the situation more confusing. Scottish seals faced a stronger virus, but survived.
3. Slight fluctuations? Even if there were large fluctuations, I’m not sure what that would prove. But slight fluctuations are pretty useless: we should expect some minor fluctuations.
4. This hurts the argument. Different pollutants might have different effects. So even though the Scottish seals have fewer pollutants, they might be worse off if their pollutants are stronger.
5. CORRECT. Presumably, pollution makes all marine species more vulnerable to infections. So if other species in the Baltic also had a higher death rate, then maybe pollution was the cause.

Recap: The question begins with “In 1988, a significant percentage of seals in the”. It is a Strengthen question. Learn how to master LSAT Strengthen questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.