PrepTest 104, Section 3, Question 17
Homing pigeons can be taken from their lofts(451 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(20 more words not shown)
- Aan experiment in(28 more words not shown)
- Ban experiment in(29 more words not shown)
- Can experiment in(31 more words not shown)
- Dan experiment in(24 more words not shown)
- Ean experiment in(21 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The quoted possibility is mind reading. Strange as it sounds, that's the hypothesis we need to test. I'd try removing the useful information from the handlers' minds: if they don't know where home is, reading their minds shouldn't tell the birds how to get there.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
None of the handlers knows the location of the pigeons' home. If the birds still navigate successfully, that would count against the idea that they get the location by reading those handlers' minds. It tests the proposed source of information directly.
- B
Affection isn't the information at issue. A handler could show no affection and still know where the pigeons live.
- C
Silence prevents spoken communication, not mind reading. The handlers could still have the relevant knowledge without saying it aloud.
- D
Being raised by one researcher rather than a team changes the birds' upbringing. It doesn't remove knowledge of home from the mind of someone they encounter, so it doesn't isolate the proposed explanation.
- E
Unfamiliar sights and sounds might affect the birds in other ways, but they don't test whether the birds obtain directions from someone's mind. A changes the information the alleged ability would give them.
More Application questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Application questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.