RC Question 20 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Which one of the following most accurately…
DISCUSSION: This is a very long question. I actually froze and skipped it while writing explanations. I did question 21, then came back to this one. That’s a valid tactic; temporary delay can let you get over the fight or flight instinct.
Once I left the question, I affirmed to myself that though a question may be long, that doesn’t make it hard. Indeed, three answers could be eliminated quickly because they contradicted the passage.
The hard choice is between B and D. However, the author’s tone in the passage was fairly positive towards Steele. The author doesn’t view Steele’s claims as proved or even probable, but they don’t criticize Steele’s attempt to create a theory.
Answer B captures this uncertainty, whereas answer D is unduly negative towards Steele.
___________
- Lines 56-58 contradict this. Many scientists disagree with Steele.
- CORRECT. This is the best answer. It leaves out that many scientists disagree with Steele. However, the answer is appropriately cautious. Some key phrases: “devised an account, of a mechanism, could be passed on, claim to have found evidence”. These points of doubt adequately cover the opposing view.
- This contradicts the passage. Lines 56-58 show that many scientists doubt Stele is correct.
- This is far too negative. The passage takes a fair view of Steele. They’re open to the possibility that Steele is correct (See lines 46-55). The author is of course aware that Steele’s theory probably isn’t true (see lines 56-58), but this answer is entirely negative about Steele, which wasn’t the author’s position.
- This wasn’t the main obstacle. Lines 31-34 show that reverse transcription of RNA to DNA is common. The more troublesome question is whether the reverse transcripted mutations can be passed on to reproductive cells.
In your explanation for why D is wrong, you say it’s a far too negative take on the author’s view. The author characterizes Steele’s “speculative story” in lines 39-40, and in the last paragraph states that circumstantial evidence is all that’s available here. It seems as though your explanation says D’s tone is unequivocally negative and the author’s view of Steele’s theory is not negative in any way–when I read the passage, I thought it was in more of a gray area on it. I saw this answer as also being in a gray area of sorts (there are far more negatively written LSAT answers about author opinion), and thought that also matched the tone.
Additionally, in B being marked as the correct answer, the last part of it simply restates a fact, but not what I feel is a point that the author makes. I try to avoid trap answers that merely re-state facts from a passage when the question asks about a conclusion, and I think that’s why I may have leaned away from it as an answer.
I appreciate the thoroughness of your explanations, this is truly an immensely useful project with a lot of depth–been a huge help as I go through these PT’s!
This passage is incredibly subtle as regards authors opinion. In fact upon rereading the author is perhaps more skeptical than I thought. But D is still too negative.
D does fairly sum up the evidence Steele uses. But it is the contrast to standard evolution which makes the answer negative. This answer suggests standard evolution is well supported, whereas Steele’s theory is “highly” speculative. The answer implies Steele is almost certainly wrong and certainly too loose with evidence. Whereas the author takes pains to point out that only indirect evidence is possible.
As for B, restatement can work if it is expansive enough. That last part of B covers most of the final paragraph. And the first paragraph merely introduced Lamarckism: Steel’s theory is the main point.
Note: This is an old comment but I wanted to clarify the point.