Data from satellite photographs of the tropical rain forest in Melonia show that last year the deforestation rate of ...

Julie-V July 16, 2019

Answer E

Hi LSAT Max! I was going to choose answer B, but after I read E I thought that it was a better answer since it addressed the part of the conclusion where the Melonian gov. credits reduction to their efforts. Would E's argument that the gov. focused more on research than enforcement not be strong enough to prove that there is another factor that aided in the reduction? Many thanks in advance!

Replies

Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

Irina July 16, 2019

@Julie,

This is a weaken question, so we are looking for an answer choice that would most weaken the government's claim. The government claims that its increased efforts to halt the destruction of the tropical rain forest are proving effective given the satellite data.

Let's look at the answer choices:

(A) strengthens the government's argument. Its efforts must indeed be effective if deforestation rate has slowed down despite landowners' opposition.;

(B) is the correct answer as it provides an alternative explanation for a lower than usual deforestation rate, i.e. heavy rain during the burning season rather than increased law-enforcement efforts;

(C) strengthens/ or has no impact. It is a nice statistic, and it shows that the government is taking action but it is impossible to evaluate it in a vacuum without having data from prior years;

(D) has no impact on the argument. The fact alone that we are unable to confirm the data does not mean that the satellite data is invalid;

(E) has no impact on the argument. Even assuming this statement is true, it is still plausible the government spent millions of dollars on enforcement and even larger sum on research.

Let me know if this is helpful.

Abigail-Okereke October 14, 2021

Hi, I choose B as my answer choice. However, I tussled between B and D for a while. For answer choice D, why doesn't lack of confirmation equally invalidity?And will this concept by true in other weaken questions/lsat questions or particularly just this question?