RC Question 20 Explanation, by LSATHacks
DISCUSSION: All of the wrong answers throw irrelevant terms at you. They say things that have nothing to do with the passage, except that they contain a term used in the passage somewhere.
Merely parroting a term from the passage doesn’t make an answer relevant. It’s like if a car mechanic said: “The windshield lubricant is jamming the brake in the trunk, so we’ll have to replace the driver’s seat using the spare found in the gear shaft.”
The words are the right words, but they don’t make any sense. Honestly, almost all reading comprehension wrong answers read like this if you know what’s going on. They’re total nonsense.
The right answer supports the argument by verifying data the argument was based on.
___________
- This could just mean that other rocks have magnetite. The theory never said that only basalt is magnetic.
- CORRECT. More verification is always good. The evidence in the third paragraph supports the theory, and this evidence in turn depends on the age measurements being accurate.
- The passage never said that basalt is only found underwater.
- The passage never said that the height of the ridge is important.
- The passage never said if other types of volcanic rock matter.
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Just had a quick question – even though I ultimately got (B) right, I was hesitant about choosing it as the correct answer, since I wasn’t sure if the geophysicists cited in the last paragraph even examined magnetite grains in the continental (as opposed to undersea) continental rock to ascertain the age of the earth’s magnetic reversals. Since the passage didn’t specify (as far as I recall) whether the geophysicists examining continental volcanic rock also relied on magnetite to form their judgments, I thought it might’ve been plausible that those geophysicists used an alternative method, in which case (B) would end up as a premise booster that wouldn’t necessarily support the ocean floor spreading theory. Fortunately, POE worked out in my favor, but I wasn’t sure if I was missing anything in my analysis that would have helped me choose (B) with greater certainty?
i’m quite sure that there are only three paragraphs… here you said “in the fourth paragraph.” Just to let you know. Great job on these explanations- they are a life saver!!
Thanks for catching that! The page has been updated.
And that’s great to hear re: your experience with Graeme’s explanations!