LSAT 127 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Two different dates have been offered as the approximate…

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

ANALYSIS: We have two events (the arrival of beetles and the arrival of spruce trees), and two different dates given. This needn’t be contradictory. If the dates are correct, it simply means that the beetles arrived before the spruce.

___________

1. There’s no evidence of this. In fact, there’s evidence that beetles began to inhabit the areas where spruce began to grow.
2. We have fairly strong evidence that when cold-adapted beetles existed in the area, it was too cold for spruce to also exist there. So there could be beetles without spruce.
3. Since the ice yielded to spruce in many areas, we have fairly strong support that this did not happen.
4. We don’t know that the species died out completely; we only know that in many areas it was replaced by a different beetle.
5. CORRECT. We have good support for this. If the dates are accurate, then there is evidence the beetles arrived first by 500 years.

Recap: The question begins with “Two different dates have been offered as the approximate”. It is a Most Strongly Supported question. Learn how to master LSAT MSS questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.