PrepTest 137, Section 1, Question 19
Passage A Until recently, conservationists were often complacent(466 more words not shown)
Passage A(224 more words not shown)
Passage B(250 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- APassage A presents(22 more words not shown)
- BPassage A questions(16 more words not shown)
- CPassage A presents(26 more words not shown)
- DPassage A warns(20 more words not shown)
- EPassage A proposes(16 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
A warns that introduced species can damage ecosystems, including places once thought relatively safe. B challenges the broad assumption that introductions destroy nature, arguing that they usually change its composition and may increase local diversity.
What we’re looking for
That is an opposition in how the phenomenon should be evaluated. B allows damaging exceptions, so the relationship doesn't require a disagreement about every individual introduction. We want A's warning matched with B's resistance to treating introductions generally as dangerous.
Working the answers
- A
Neither writer is primarily explaining what causes species to arrive. They assess the effects of those arrivals. Competing judgments about consequences aren't competing hypotheses about causes.
- B
A does question earlier complacency about undisturbed habitats. But B doesn't defend that earlier assumption or argue that only disturbed habitats are threatened. Its response is a different argument about transformation and human preferences, so the second half doesn't fit.
- C
This turns both arguments into reports of how people usually regard introductions. The writers are trying to establish how introductions affect ecosystems and how we should judge them, not showing that one public opinion is widespread and its opposite is usual. B's claim also isn't simply that introductions are usually considered beneficial.
- DCorrect
A presents ecological dangers; B argues against generally categorizing introductions as dangerous. Generally matters because B acknowledges some harmful cases without abandoning its broader defense. This captures the actual disagreement.
- E
A doesn't lay out a particular remedy, and B doesn't evaluate such a proposed plan. Concern about a problem isn't yet a course of action to solve it.
More Organization questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Organization questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.