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- Wed May 10, 2017 3:03 pm
#34693
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14060)
The correct answer choice is (B)
This question refers to the fourth paragraph, in which the Author uses the circumstances surrounding the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and the later success of mammals to undermine the strict constructionist view. According to the passage, the smaller mammals were better able to adapt to the environmental changes caused by the impact of an “extraterrestrial body,” such as a meteor, thought to have struck the Earth 65 million years ago. (lines 40-42). Our prephrase is that it is the mammals’ relatively smaller size that enabled them to survive.
Answer choice (A): The passage indicated that the mammals were small because of an adaptation in response to the threat posed by dinosaurs, not because of an earlier catastrophic change in climate.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. As prephrased above, the passage states that the mammals were able to survive the change in climate because they were smaller than the dinosaurs.
Answer choice (C): Nothing in the passage discusses the intelligence of mammals 65 million years ago.
Answer choice (D): As with answer choice (C), the passage does not provide any information on the range of environments in which the mammals lived prior to the catastrophic impact of an extraterrestrial body of some kind.
Answer choice (E): Again, as with both answer choices (C) and (D), the passage did not discuss the reproductive rate of the mammals who survived the dramatic change in climate 65 million years ago. Note that this answer choice, like answer choice (D), contains a statement that is likely accurate. However, since the Author did not discuss these facts in the passage, they are incorrect answers to this question, which focuses on what the author told us.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14060)
The correct answer choice is (B)
This question refers to the fourth paragraph, in which the Author uses the circumstances surrounding the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and the later success of mammals to undermine the strict constructionist view. According to the passage, the smaller mammals were better able to adapt to the environmental changes caused by the impact of an “extraterrestrial body,” such as a meteor, thought to have struck the Earth 65 million years ago. (lines 40-42). Our prephrase is that it is the mammals’ relatively smaller size that enabled them to survive.
Answer choice (A): The passage indicated that the mammals were small because of an adaptation in response to the threat posed by dinosaurs, not because of an earlier catastrophic change in climate.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. As prephrased above, the passage states that the mammals were able to survive the change in climate because they were smaller than the dinosaurs.
Answer choice (C): Nothing in the passage discusses the intelligence of mammals 65 million years ago.
Answer choice (D): As with answer choice (C), the passage does not provide any information on the range of environments in which the mammals lived prior to the catastrophic impact of an extraterrestrial body of some kind.
Answer choice (E): Again, as with both answer choices (C) and (D), the passage did not discuss the reproductive rate of the mammals who survived the dramatic change in climate 65 million years ago. Note that this answer choice, like answer choice (D), contains a statement that is likely accurate. However, since the Author did not discuss these facts in the passage, they are incorrect answers to this question, which focuses on what the author told us.