LSAT 143 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q4

LR Question 4 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The size of the spleen is a good indicator of how…

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS:

1. Healthy birds generally have larger spleens than sickly birds do.
2. Birds killed by predators tend to have smaller spleens.

ANALYSIS: It sounds like predators kill sickly birds more often. This is probably because sickly birds are easier to kill.

There are some ways you could cast doubt on this conclusion. But this is a most strongly supported question. You just need to conclude what seems probable. It doesn’t need to be 100% certain.

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1. This doesn’t follow. It might be harder to kill healthy birds, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
2. This doesn’t follow. It’s more common for sickly birds to die from predators. But that doesn’t mean that most sickly birds die from predators. That’d be a slaughter!
3. Hard to say. The predators might be catching sickly birds simply because sickly birds are slower. The predators might not realize their easy catches are due to sickness.
4. CORRECT. This is well supported. Birds with small spleens tend to be more sickly, and we know small-spleened birds are killed more often.
    
   You might have noticed there are a couple of ways this answer could be not true. Doesn’t matter. On a most strongly supported question, you’re just looking for something probable. It doesn’t have to be 100% ironclad.
5. This goes too far. It’s possible that there are other causes of sickness. In fact it’s even possible that sickness causes small spleen size, rather than the reverse.