#21 - Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=11562)

The correct answer choice is (D)

The justification for the correct answer can be found on:

(lines 4-18)

This question is certainly conducive to prephrasing. The biologists with the new perspective appear to disagree with the traditional, benign view of pathogen-host relationships, pointing out that even an overwhelmed or incapacitated host can lead to evolutionary success for a pathogen. Correct answer choice (D) restates this idea in different terms: the traditional view was that success meant benign parasite-host relationships. The new perspective presented here is that evolutionary success can be achieved even in the absence of benign coexistence.

[jgray]

I chose B for this question...."can achieve success."

The stem uses "prevailing view" and "the biologists...(line 10)"

I found the "Some Biologists" in line 10 and followed their view to line 18. Line 13 states "still achieve evolutionary success" and line 18 states, "...can achieve evolutionary success."

What did I not understand?
thank you.

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi jgray,

Great question. Lots of students get tripped up in the same way you did on this one, and it really is just a function of going a little too quickly through the question. The "prevailing view" mentioned in the question is NOT the view of "some biologists." In fact, "some biologists" think the opposite of the prevailing view. The key here is to notice that the exact phrase "prevailing view" is used in the second sentence, and recognize that's the view referenced in question 21. The "some biologists" sentence tells you what "some biologists" think. Compare what they think to the "prevailing view" in the second sentence. Now can you see why answer D is correct?

[Lsat180Please]

I had a few questions about this one. The question confused me because I was not sure if all of the listed answer choices were guaranteed to be the "prevailing view of host-parasite relations" or if we had to firstly verify if the answer was even part of that view (I encountered a different reading comp question like that and I was not sure if this was the same). Then, considering the answer to 20 was D, I do not see why E is not correct here. If the parasite thrives with no harm to its host (which confused me as an answer also because in the second paragraph we see that it does harm its host by making it ill) why is E not correct. I do not see where the prevailing view says the "only" way to achieve evolutionary success just that it gives them the "best chance". Thank you!!

[Brook Miscoski]

LSAT180Please,

No, the answer choices are not guaranteed to even be relevant to the passage. You simply have to find the one that the biologists in line 10 would agree with. To improve your efficiency, do not overthink the question stem. It tells you where to look and whose perspective to take.

You can see that the biologists have the viewpoint that a pathogen can achieve evolutionary success by other means than allowing its host to thrive. Answer choice (D) is an exact expression of that viewpoint, and it is the correct answer.

Answer choice (E) is not correct because the question is whether the pathogen harms the host, not whether the host harms the pathogen. Read (E) carefully. It reverses the relationship that is discussed in the passage. The LSAT folks will try to confuse you that way, and if you get stuck you may need to clear your mind and take a fresh perspective on what an answer choice says.

[T.B.Justin]

Hi jgray,

Great question. Lots of students get tripped up in the same way you did on this one, and it really is just a function of going a little too quickly through the question. The "prevailing view" mentioned in the question is NOT the view of "some biologists." In fact, "some biologists" think the opposite of the prevailing view. The key here is to notice that the exact phrase "prevailing view" is used in the second sentence, and recognize that's the view referenced in question 21. The "some biologists" sentence tells you what "some biologists" think. Compare what they think to the "prevailing view" in the second sentence. Now can you see why answer D is correct?

This reminds me of point at issue question.