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 Administrator
PowerScore Staff
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#36761
Complete Question Explanation

(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14646)

Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (A)

There is only one specifically described experiment, and that is the one that tests Rita’s hypothesis that a
chemical produced by mouse tumors stimulated nerve growth.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. Lines 20-28 deal with Rita’s hypothesis that a
mouse tumor produces a chemical that stimulates nerve growth, and lines 28-39 provide a description
the experiment.

Answer choice (B): This choice contains true information; in lines 14-20, the passage informs us that
Rita actually did test the hypothesis that many nerve cells are pre-programmed to die. However, the
passage does not describe that experiment, offering no details about the process of the experiment.

Answer choice (C): The author indicates in the first paragraph that NGF is not the only neurotrophic
factor, and mentions anti-NGF antibodies in the last paragraph; however, the author never provides the
particulars of experiments that tested any such hypothesis or produced these results.

Answer choice (D): The information in this answer choice may be true, given the fact that NGF
is “especially concentrated in some organs.” However, the passage does not deal with organs’
concentration relative to that of surrounding tissue. Further, this is not the hypothesis that the passage
described the testing experiment for, so this answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (E): While this is apparently the case, given the information in the third paragraph, the
passage never deals with any specific experiment that confirmed this hypothesis.
 snowy
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#64372
Is the specification of a "certain kind of mouse tumor" in A not a problem, since the passage just talks about a mouse tumor generally?

Also, would it be correct to say that another reason why B is incorrect is that that fact is something that was found out during the research (lines 15-18), rather than a hypothesis that was tested for?

Thank you!!
 Brook Miscoski
PowerScore Staff
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#64434
Snowy,

Line 25 refers to a "certain variety of mouse tumor" that was used in the experiment, so it's fine that (A) refers to "a certain kind of mouse tumor."

Since the experiment was introduced as a means of testing a hypothesis (lines 11-15), you are correct to restrict your consideration to the means rather than the results.

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