PrepTest 141, Section 1, Question 4
Charles Darwin objected to all attempts to reduce(440 more words not shown)
The author would be most(10 more words not shown)
- ANatural selection is(10 more words not shown)
- BThe fact that(16 more words not shown)
- COnly evolutionary changes(12 more words not shown)
- DLarge animal species(9 more words not shown)
- ENatural selection is(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Think about the mammals. They flourished after the catastrophe because their small size happened to help under the new conditions. But they were already small; they hadn't adapted in advance to an impact that hadn't happened yet.
What we’re looking for
That gives us a useful prediction: success in an environment doesn't, by itself, prove that a species developed its characteristics as adaptations to that environment. The author is separating a beneficial result from the explanation of how the beneficial feature arose.
Working the answers
- A
This goes much further than the argument. The author disputes the claim that selection explains everything; that does not show that selection explains almost nothing.
- BCorrect
The mammals' survival supplies the example. Flourishing under the changed conditions doesn't demonstrate prior adaptation to those conditions; a feature developed under earlier circumstances happened to be useful.
- C
The neutral mutations directly challenge this. Changes can persist across generations even though they give the organism no reproductive advantage. “Only” excludes the very cases the author emphasizes.
- D
The catastrophe favored smaller species, but one extinction event doesn't establish that large species generally cannot survive harsh environments. The claim is broader than the example supports.
- E
Form versus behavior isn't the distinction driving the criticism. The author challenges an account covering both; we aren't told selection explains one but not the other.
More Author's Opinion questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Author's Opinion questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.