LR Question 11 Explanation, by LSATHacks
QUESTION TEXT: Scientists examined diamonds that were formed on Earth…
QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported
FACTS: Some diamonds formed in a certain way. This could only have happened if the earth’s atmosphere didn’t have much oxygen.
ANALYSIS: Don’t let this question’s scientific language fool you. It’s very straightforward. I intentionally simplified it in my summary.
The diamonds formed due to a chemical reaction. The reaction couldn’t have happened if there was much oxygen in the atmosphere.
O ➞ R (evidence)
R ➞ O (contrapositive)
Therefore, since the reaction did happen, there wasn’t much oxygen in the atmosphere.
___________
- We have no clue when most diamonds of this type were formed. Maybe most were formed 1.5 billion years ago. The atmosphere might have stayed low oxygen for quite a while.
- We have no idea how the chemical reactions worked. But since they couldn’t have happened if there was much oxygen, they probably didn’t involve oxygen.
- CORRECT. See the last sentence . If the atmosphere had contained oxygen, then the reactions wouldn’t have happened and the diamonds wouldn’t have formed.
- Read the second sentence. These diamonds have a higher than normal concentration of sulfur-33. That doesn’t mean modern diamonds have none.
- Not quite. The stimulus is talking about the formation of diamonds high in sulfur-33. We have no idea how normal diamonds form.
Hi, I'm Graeme Blake
Founder of LSAThacks; I scored a 177 on the LSAT.
I created the LSAT Mastery Seminars, which are part of the Ultimate LSAT Prep Bundle
If you like the explanations you're reading I'm 100% confident you'll enjoy the courses. Satisfaction guaranteed.
---------
Updates:
For updates, sign up for my email list. I update whenever I have new posts.
Leave a Reply