LSAT 146 | Section 4 | Reading Comprehension: Q21

RC Question 21 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Here, the passage cites line 6. When the passage gives a line reference, you should always look around it for context.

The full description of sheep is in lines 6-8. There, we see sheep is represented by “a circled cross”. That, obviously, looks nothing like a sheep. So, the sign for sheep is an abstract symbol. “Sheep” could just as easily have been represented by, say, a triangle.

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1. CORRECT. See the analysis above. The full text of lines 6-8 supports this answer. If a sheep could be a cross with a circle, then anything could have been a sheep.
2. “Sheep” is a cross with a circle. “Metal” is a crescent with five lines. Neither symbol seems particularly like the thing is represents.
3. Nonsense. “Sheep” is represented by a cross with a circle. What does that have to do with agriculture.
4. The first paragraph doesn’t say who first figured out the meaning of “sheep” scientifically. In fact, it doesn’t even say whether Schmandt-Besserat did so.
5. What? This is really far off from anything mentioned in the passage. The author didn’t mention politics.