LSAT 80, Logical Reasoning I, Q10, LSATHacks

LR Question 10 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Creating a database of all the plant species in the…

QUESTION TYPE: Must Be False

FACTS:

1. It has been hard to create a database of plant species.
2. Botanists used to collect and name plants which already had names. (The botanists hadn't realized the plants already had names)
3. DNA analysis has shown that some plants which seemed to be one species were actually two.

ANALYSIS: These statements can't be combined to form a new deduction. So, the right answer will literally be a contradiction of one of the statements above.

Note that statements 2 and 3 are opposite phenomena. #2 is one plant seeming to be two. #3 is two plants seeming to be one.

___________

1. This is possible. The first sentence says that building a database has been hard. It's possible we're not done yet.
2. This seems very likely true. It will, for example, help botanists figure out whether a plant already has been named.
3. Very possible. The stimulus made no claims beyond botany.
4. CORRECT. Botanists do have a technique: DNA analysis.
   This answer is worded very abstractly. Imagine a case where you have plant A and plant B. But, because they look so similar, botanists thought they were a single species, plant C.
   DNA analysis lets us see that these “distinct” plants were not given distinct names. Instead, they were given the same name: plant C.
   (DNA analysis will let us fix this error and call them plants A and B)
5. Very possible. There is a lot of information in the world, and a database may not contain everything. And, if a plant has been given two names and this error hasn't been caught, it's possible some information would be in the other entry.

Recap: The question begins with “Creating a database of all the plant”. It is a Must be False question. To practice more Must be False questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.

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