LSAT 154 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q20

RC Question 20 Explanation

DISCUSSION: It’s a bit tricky to anticipate an answer to this question since we’re told a lot about what Colwell thinks about V. cholerae. To summarize, her main points are:

1. V. cholerae can live in seawater
2. V. cholerae in its dormant state can’t be detected in cultures, but can be detected by antibody tests.
3. V. cholerae’s dormant state is a survival mechanism for existing outside human hosts.
4. Changes in seawater temperature or salinity can cause dormant V. cholerae to awaken.

The correct answer would be related to one of more of her discoveries and their implications.

___________

1. We don’t know about “most” cases.
2. Again, we don’t know about “most” cases.
3. “Never” is too extreme, we don’t know this.
4. CORRECT. We can infer that since traditional culture methods couldn’t detect V. cholerae in Chesapeake Bay, then the bacteria must’ve been dormant. Thus, Colwell would believe that her new method would’ve revealed the bacteria’s presence since it can detect dormant bacteria.
5. The passage says Colwell found the bacteria in some locations in Asia, but “throughout” makes it too extreme and we have no support for this.