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Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=10516)

The correct answer choice is (A)

To answer this question correctly, we need to understand the logic behind the selfish gene theory described in passage A.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The central premise behind the selfish gene theory is the idea that some types of seemingly altruistic behavior (or “mechanisms”) arise and persist in a given population because they enhance the survival and replication of the genes responsible for such behavior (lines 20-30).

Answer choice (B): This is the Opposite answer: the types of human behavior described in passage A developed through evolutionary processes not because they prompted individuals to behave unselfishly, but in spite of the fact that they did (lines 7-12).

Answer choice (C): Passage A provides no evidence suggesting that the behaviors described in it somehow improve the physical health of those who exhibit them.

Answer choice (D): The author of passage A never alludes to the possibility of finding food as an explanation for the types of human behavior described in that passage.

Answer choice (E): Although early humans did live in mutually dependent groups, this living arrangement prompted the altruistic behavior that would help propagate the genes responsible for that behavior (lines 27-30). The living arrangement was not itself prompted by altruism. This answer choice reverses the chain of causation described in the last paragraph of passage A.

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