#15 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):


This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[emilyjmyer]

I understand why D is correct but why is C wrong? I feel like the question stem makes it seem like it is an unusually warm June.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi emilyjmyer!

Happy to address why answer choice (C) is incorrect.

To begin, this question asks about the effects of a pond drying up in June, which should bring to mind material from the passage: "But small ponds occasionally dry up during the summer, forcing the water bugs to search for new habitats, an eventuality that macropterous individuals are well adapted to meet" (lines 39-42). We also know from the same paragraph that the "summer (early) generation ... is usually dimorphic" (lines 32-33). We're therefore told that the "dimorphism of the summer generation would enable some individuals to survive," as stated in answer choice (D). Namely, this dimorphism means that there are some macropterous individuals, and these can survive a pond drying up. Or represented in conditional reasoning, we are given:

dimorphism macropterous

And answer choice (D) adds:

macropterous survive pond drying up

We can put these together as:

dimorphism macropterous survive pond drying up

Or:

dimorphism survive pond drying up

To address answer choice (C), you mention,

I feel like the question stem makes it seem like it is an unusually warm June.

I can understand why you might be inclined to think this from the question stem. After all, if the water bed is dried up, would this not suggest it was especially hot? Despite the temptation, it's important not to put more into the questions than is actually there. For example, the pond might have dried up because a city started directing the pond's water elsewhere. Or perhaps it was an especially dry summer with no rain, yet wasn't necessarily hot. In short, we don't know from the wording of the question that it was especially hot in June.

Finally, even if it were hot in June, that wouldn't make (C) the correct answer. Answer choice (C) states, "The generation of water bugs to be hatched during the subsequent spring would contain an unusually large number of macropterous individuals." We're only told about the conditions that produce macropterous individuals in the final sentence of the passage: "Adult water bugs of the overwintering generation, brought into the laboratory during the cold months and kept warm, produce only macropterous offspring" (lines 63-66). To be sure, this connects heat and macropterous individuals, but with reference to water bugs that are adults in June (if heat dried up the pond, some adults could survive because of their macropterous wings). The role of heat in the passage, however, is more with respect to egg development. We'd want to know about the heat conditions of the eggs mentioned in answer choice (C) to know if they'd produce macropterous individuals.

[lsatstudent99966]

Hi emilyjmyer!

Happy to address why answer choice (C) is incorrect.

To begin, this question asks about the effects of a pond drying up in June, which should bring to mind material from the passage: "But small ponds occasionally dry up during the summer, forcing the water bugs to search for new habitats, an eventuality that macropterous individuals are well adapted to meet" (lines 39-42). We also know from the same paragraph that the "summer (early) generation ... is usually dimorphic" (lines 32-33). We're therefore told that the "dimorphism of the summer generation would enable some individuals to survive," as stated in answer choice (D). Namely, this dimorphism means that there are some macropterous individuals, and these can survive a pond drying up. Or represented in conditional reasoning, we are given:

dimorphism macropterous

And answer choice (D) adds:

macropterous survive pond drying up

We can put these together as:

dimorphism macropterous survive pond drying up

Or:

dimorphism survive pond drying up

To address answer choice (C), you mention,

I feel like the question stem makes it seem like it is an unusually warm June.

I can understand why you might be inclined to think this from the question stem. After all, if the water bed is dried up, would this not suggest it was especially hot? Despite the temptation, it's important not to put more into the questions than is actually there. For example, the pond might have dried up because a city started directing the pond's water elsewhere. Or perhaps it was an especially dry summer with no rain, yet wasn't necessarily hot. In short, we don't know from the wording of the question that it was especially hot in June.

Finally, even if it were hot in June, that wouldn't make (C) the correct answer. Answer choice (C) states, "The generation of water bugs to be hatched during the subsequent spring would contain an unusually large number of macropterous individuals." We're only told about the conditions that produce macropterous individuals in the final sentence of the passage: "Adult water bugs of the overwintering generation, brought into the laboratory during the cold months and kept warm, produce only macropterous offspring" (lines 63-66). To be sure, this connects heat and macropterous individuals, but with reference to water bugs that are adults in June (if heat dried up the pond, some adults could survive because of their macropterous wings).[/i][/b][/i] The role of heat in the passage, however, is more with respect to egg development. We'd want to know about the heat conditions of the eggs mentioned in answer choice (C) to know if they'd produce macropterous individuals.

But, if we refer to the correct answer choice (C) of question 20, the purpose of the lab experiment is to prove "the effect of temperature on developing water-bug eggs," i.e., to connect heat and the eggs.

[Dana D]

Hey Lsatstudent,

Keep in mind this is a MBT question. You are fighting to prove why answer choice (C) could be true, but the answer just as easily could be false. There might be a connection between heat and eggs, but as Luke said earlier, we don't know for sure that June was especially warm. In fact, the June in question could have been filled with record lows. Because we don't know for sure, we cannot say that this must be true.

In your initial post, you said you know why answer choice (D) is right but don't understand why (C) is wrong. When you get down to two answer choices like this, you have to ask which of the two is better answering the question from the stimulus. We're asked which of the following answer choices MBT, so in comparing answers (D) and (C) you should try and negate each - the correct answer MBT and therefore can never be false. There is no way answer choice (D) could be false; it is supported by logic direct from the stimulus. Answer choice (C), in comparison, could be false just as easily as it could be true, therefore it cannot be the correct answer.

Hope that helps!

[lsatstudent99966]

Hey Lsatstudent,

Keep in mind this is a MBT question. You are fighting to prove why answer choice (C) could be true, but the answer just as easily could be false. There might be a connection between heat and eggs, but as Luke said earlier, we don't know for sure that June was especially warm. In fact, the June in question could have been filled with record lows. Because we don't know for sure, we cannot say that this must be true.

In your initial post, you said you know why answer choice (D) is right but don't understand why (C) is wrong. When you get down to two answer choices like this, you have to ask which of the two is better answering the question from the stimulus. We're asked which of the following answer choices MBT, so in comparing answers (D) and (C) you should try and negate each - the correct answer MBT and therefore can never be false. There is no way answer choice (D) could be false; it is supported by logic direct from the stimulus. Answer choice (C), in comparison, could be false just as easily as it could be true, therefore it cannot be the correct answer.

Hope that helps!

The initial post was made by someone else. I was just asking out of curiosity But thank you very much Dana. Your response is crystal clear!