LR Question 11 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Environmentalist: The complex ecosystem of the North…
QUESTION TYPE: Main Conclusion
CONCLUSION: We can restore land to biodiversity without reducing meat production.
REASONING: The prairie supported as many bison as cattle, and bison provide as much meat as cattle.
ANALYSIS: The stimulus is not saying what we should do. It’s saying what we could do. This is a major distinction on the LSAT, and it explains why answer choice D is wrong.
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- The bison were not “an earlier north American agricultural technique.” They were part of a natural ecosystem.
- This is only true of bison. It might not be true of all animals, such as chickens.
- The argument is arguing that we could restore the prairie and that there won’t be consequences.
- The argument didn’t actually say we should restore the ecosystem. Maybe it would cost quite a bit in the short term. The argument just said we could restore it without major consequences for meat production.
- CORRECT. We could restore the prairies and still eat bison meat.
More Resources for Identify the Conclusion Questions
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Identify the Conclusion questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers identify the conclusion questions.
Also, wouldn’t D be wrong because the stimulus never mentioned preserving the remaining bison – it just said it would be possible to have a lot of meat without our crazy practices. But maybe we have no remaining bison, or the strategy would involve slaughtering our current bison and importing chinese bison, or some other non-bison-preservation-based solution?
The stimulus says “since bison yield as much meat as cattle”, and the implication is that by returning the land to an uncultivated state, a potentially higher population of bison could be supported than the current population of cattle in the cultivated state (or, at the very least, a greater degree of biodiversity could be maintained through the restoration of the bison population).
The main reason we should eliminate this answer choice is that the stimulus doesn’t say anything about what would or would not be a sensible policy.