LSAT 141 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q15

LR Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Hine’s emerald dragonflies are an endangered species…

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox

PARADOX: Hine’s emerald dragonflies are endangered and live in wetlands. The larvae can survive only in water.

Red devil crayfish eat the dragonfly larvae, yet the dragonflies are more likely to have healthy populations in areas with red devil crayfish.

ANALYSIS: On paradox questions, you must first of all think about why the situation is confusing. This one can be summed up as: “crayfish eat dragonflies, yet dragonflies seem to benefit from the presence of crayfish.”

You need to find an answer that shows one of two things:

1. How crayfish can help dragonflies, OR
2. How environments that help crayfish also help dragonflies.

___________

1. CORRECT. Emerald dragonfly larvae need water to survive. This shows that crayfish can help dragonfly populations to withstand drought.
2. This doesn’t show that crayfish help the dragonflies. It just shows that the crayfish hurt the dragonflies less than they possibly could.
3. This makes the situation more confusing. It removes a way that crayfish could have helped dragonflies.
4. This doesn’t explain anything. It’s just an irrelevant fact about the crayfish. Besides, we would expect crayfish to be more widespread, since the dragonflies are endangered.
5. This is just a random fact about crayfish. It doesn’t help explain how crayfish help dragonflies.