PrepTest 130, Section 4, Question 9
Two months ago a major shipment of pythons(77 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- ASome pythons hatched(19 more words not shown)
- BPythons that hatch(17 more words not shown)
- CAny python that(15 more words not shown)
- DThe pythons are(11 more words not shown)
- EPythons hatched in(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A high disease rate among African-hatched pythons does not tell us that every imported python is sick. Perhaps this shipment came from a careful breeder whose animals are healthy. I would object if the passage concluded that these particular snakes definitely had the disease.
But the warning is only to beware. That is more modest, and the difficulty of detecting the disease early helps explain the caution. A buyer may not be able to settle the risk just by looking at a python.
What we’re looking for
We also learn that some recently hatched North American pythons have the disease, although the proportion is lower. Once a python contracts it, the disease kills within six months. For the inference question, keep those facts and their limits straight: where a python hatched, whether it has the disease, and when it contracted it are different pieces of information.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
A few North American pythons have the disease, and it is difficult to detect early. Some infected snakes therefore may appear fine even though they will die from it within six months. A combines those facts without claiming that every North American python is infected or that every infected python looks healthy.
- B
More African-hatched pythons having the disease does not establish that they are more susceptible to it. They might simply encounter it more often. Greater exposure can produce more cases even when the snakes are no more vulnerable to infection than snakes hatched elsewhere.
- C
The six-month clock starts when the python contracts the disease, not when it hatches. Suppose a python contracts it at two months old and dies at eight months old. That fits the stated six-month limit, yet the python is alive and infected at six months of age. C wrongly treats survival to that age as proof that the snake is disease-free.
- D
The passage does not establish that illness causes the low prices. The large shipment might have made pythons inexpensive by increasing the number available. We do not need to settle the actual pricing mechanism to see that the proposed disease explanation has not been established.
- E
Nothing tells us about pythons hatched in other places. A python hatched in South America, for example, might or might not have the disease. Information about Africa and North America does not rule out cases elsewhere.
More Must Be True questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Must Be True questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.