LSAT 111 | Section 2 | Reading Comprehension: Q19

RC Question 19 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Lines 14-16 are the key. They say that determinist scientists agree with philosophers that science needs universal laws. Physics uses many universal laws.

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1. No one in the entire passage mentions ideas being understood by non-scientists. Indeed, the passage itself is hard to understand. This is totally unrelated.
2. We’re only told that philosophers respect physicists. We don’t know if scientists do. Pay close attention to words; this answer choice is a well laid trap.
3. CORRECT. Lines 14-16 say this directly. Some biologists (determinists) agree with physicists that science needs universal laws. So they’re trying to find biology’s universal laws. 
4. This is nonsense. Why should biologists want to apply the laws of planetary motion to biology? The determinists are interested in the idea of universal laws, but that doesn’t mean they want to apply the laws of physics to biology. They want to find biology’s universal laws.
5. “All” scientific projects? That’s an extreme statement. We’re not told what biological determinists think about chemistry, or geology, or other sciences. Maybe they think those sciences are misguided and they don’t want to copy them.