#11 - Must Be True, Purpose/Function

[gweatherall]

Could someone help clarify why A, and not C, is correct? I chose C because I didn't think A complicated the set of facts- it seemed as though A hearkened instead to the "simpler" evolutionary theory that is based on self preservation. Maybe I overthought this one?

[Eric Ockert]

The final sentence of the second paragraph describes an exception to the observation that spadefoot toad tadpoles who engage in cannibalism avoid eating their own kin. Inclusive fitness theory would predict behavior such as avoiding eating one's kin, as it provides a genetic benefit to organisms who avoid killing animals that share their genes. So this undoubtedly complicates things, because the fact that they eat their own kin when hungry seems to go against the inclusive fitness theory.

Answer choice (C) is incorrect because this sentence is describing behavior that is an exception to the account of kin recognition presented in the second paragraph, not behavior that lends support to it.

Hope that helps!

[gweatherall]

Gahhhhh I see what I did- a simple misreading error! I read "2nd paragraph" as "3rd paragraph" which would have lent more support to C being correct (an introduction to the behavior described in paragraph 3.) Thanks for much for your help!

[PresidentLSAT]

What scared me with A was the "any." Before going to the answer choices, I predicted that the "interestingly" that precedes the sentence is an indicator that draws our attention to a set of information that doesn't correspond with what we've been provided in the paragraph.

I honestly barely understood what was going on in the passage but the application of logic always helps. So if I say:
"Victoria's Secret angels are usually famous models because they have a million plus followers on Instagram. Interestingly, Model B is a Victoria's Secret Angel and has 100 Instagram followers."

The indicator tells me that what follows after "interestingly" doesn't correspond with the information above.

Now that I am writing this, I can justify more why A is correct. By applying the model logic, Model B's case complicates a long-standing fact that 'every Victoria's Secret Angel is a famous model because at least, a million people know who they are from their Instagram following. ' In this case, any theory of fame being alluded to the VS girls will be complicated by Model B's case.

Please let me know if I'm correctly applying the logic here. I was honestly scared of "any" in the answer choice and let it go immediately. I hesitantly chose C.

[Robert Carroll]

PresidentLSAT,

Your logic is correct. The information is at odds with the explanation, so the explanation needs at least some modification because it can be complete. "Any" is not a problem - any explanation would have to account for these facts. The set of facts is more complicated, and any theory of natural selection that accounts for kin recognition would have to be compatible with these facts - even ones we don't know of or ones that aren't mentioned. Whatever theory is going to be devised, these facts must be at least compatible with that theory.

Robert Carroll