#17 - In deep temperate lakes, water temperatures vary

[LawSchoolDream]

Rose,

In the stimulus, you have four different time periods. In winter, cold water is at the top. In summer, cold water is at the bottom. The "turnover" (from top to bottom and vice versa) occur in fall and late winter. You can imagine the water cycling from top to bottom and back over a year period. Also, lake trout can be found in the coldest water. This information is the premise.

The last sentence gives us the conclusion. While lakes are partially iced over in late winter, Anglers looking for lake trout should avoid the trout's "summer haunts."

The key here is to understand the water temperatures.
Winter: Cold water on top
Late Winter: "Turnover" to cold water on bottom
Summer: Cold water on bottom
Fall: "Turnover" to cold water on top

The argument that in late winter, Anglers should avoid the summer haunts ASSUMES that turnover hasn't happened yet. If turnover had happened, we'd be at summer levels again, and so Anglers would want to look for trout at their summer haunts.

Whenever I see dates/time periods in an argument, I underline them or note them in my brain. Here, four time periods (winter, summer, late winter, and fall) are mentioned. And the conclusion is specifically about late winter.

Hope that helps.

What is the meaning of Summer haunts?? and what exactly takes place during turnover? Does the hot and cold water get mixed up?

[LawSchoolDream]

what does it mean to "eschew the summer haunts" specifically also? Does it mean to avoid? Also why is E correct and B incorrect? I can't provide a reasoning behind my thought process because I was absolutely lost on this one

[Adam Tyson]

Their "summer haunts" are the places they like to hang out in the summer. A "haunt," when used this way, just means the places you tend to spend your time. And to "eschew" something means to avoid it or reject it. So the advice to eschew their summer haunts means to avoid the places they tend to spend their time during the summer (which would be at the bottoms of the lakes, where the water is colder in the summer) and to instead look for fish in the places they hang out during the winter (near the surface.) The assumption, then, is "in deep temperate lakes while these lakes are partially iced over in late winter," the water is still colder at the top, because the water hasn't yet gone through the "turnover" that happens in late winter (which is when the cold water goes from the top of the lake down to the bottom.)

[LawSchoolDream]

Their "summer haunts" are the places they like to hang out in the summer. A "haunt," when used this way, just means the places you tend to spend your time. And to "eschew" something means to avoid it or reject it. So the advice to eschew their summer haunts means to avoid the places they tend to spend their time during the summer (which would be at the bottoms of the lakes, where the water is colder in the summer) and to instead look for fish in the places they hang out during the winter (near the surface.) The assumption, then, is "in deep temperate lakes while these lakes are partially iced over in late winter," the water is still colder at the top, because the water hasn't yet gone through the "turnover" that happens in late winter (which is when the cold water goes from the top of the lake down to the bottom.)

Aha. If I did not understand this part, which I didn't, could it actually have still been solved? Many times I come across wording that just confuses me, and I'm aware lsat is meant to confuse but sometimes its so extreme I just can't make sense. Any tips or was this something that required understanding of this statement?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi LawSchoolDream,

It certainly would be helpful to understand the meaning of "eschew the lake trout's summer haunts," and the test makers would probably consider those terms "fair game" as far as the general college level vocabulary required for the LSAT (meaning that they aren't highly specialized/technical/scientific terms that most test takers would not know. Those specialized words do appear at times on the test, but they are always defined or explained in context).

However, you could likely still solve this question by context even without being sure of the meaning of those terms. The key to understanding the argument is that the coldest temperatures in these deep lakes change depending on what season it is (in winter the coldest water is at the top, in summer, it's at the bottom), and the lake trout are always found in the coldest water. In other words, in the winter, the trout are at the top, and in the summer, they are at the bottom.

With this in mind, the conclusion, which is talking about fishing for the trout in winter, recommends fishing near the surface instead. Realizing that the word "instead" means doing one option rather than another, you should be able to use context to realize that the first option "eschew the lake trout's summer haunts" would likely mean don't look for the fish in the deep water (i.e. where you would look for them in the summer), instead look for them in the shallow water/surface.

Of course, the other key to solving this question is understanding the "turnover" concept and exactly when those turnovers take place. Fortunately, this is all explained in the stimulus. Turnover refers to when the water switches temperatures from cold on bottom to cold on top (in the fall) and then from cold on top back to cold on bottom (in late winter).

Because the conclusion of the argument specifically mentions fishing during the later winter, the key issue is did the "late winter" turnover take place yet? The argument assumes that it hasn't, which is why Answer E is correct. If the turnover had occurred, then the best place to fish for the trout would be the bottom of the lake (i.e. the summer haunts) rather than the surface.