A distemper virus has caused two-thirds of the seal population in the North Sea to die since May 1988. The explanatio...
Julie-VJuly 18, 2019
(A) vs. (E)
hi LSAT Max,
I was wondering if someone could break down the explanation as to why (E) isn't the best option for this question. I thought that the mention of shellfish and seabirds in (A) was committing the same error of bringing in topics unrelated to what's being discussed in the stimulus similar to Q 14 (where (C) talks about freedom of religion and assembly while the stimulus was about freedom of speech). It was that logic that led me to choose option E, which I eventually chose after process of elimination.
If possible, please explain why making the assumption that the species mentioned in (A) also suffers from the same problems as the seals is an appropriate inference. Many thanks in advance!
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The conclusion argues that severe pollution must have weakened the immune system of the seals.
(E) provides an alternative explanation for the seal population drop by saying that their immune system encountered an unfamiliar virus rather than became weakened due to pollution. (E) thus weakens rather than strengthens the argument. Note also the author's mention of "the normally latent virus" meaning the virus is likely commonly present in the area/ seal population and is not in fact new as (E) argues.
(B) & (C) also weaken the argument because they present additional facts that suggest that severe pollution is unlikely in this region. Would humans consume fish from a severely polluted source?
(D) is irrelevant, it makes no difference what seal species are found in the region.
(A) is the correct answer as we have identified by the process of elimination. It is not a particularly strong answer but it is the best choice considering the rest weaken the argument, and one is clearly irrelevant.
