Q11 - According to the theory of continental

[LSAT-Chang]

What makes (A) better than the rest of the answers? I thought (D) and (E) were quite strong enough to support the hypothesis that the two continents were once joined with each other.

[noah]

This is a strange question in that you're to provide another bit of support for a theory. The theory is that South America and Africa were once joined - and this is part of a general theory about the continents previously being a united landmass.

(A) provides support because it demonstrates that the land--i.e. the rock--on the two continents are the same. The fact that the rock is rare gives this answer even more punch, since if the rock were quite common, the fact that both continents have this band would be inconsequential.

(B) is tempting, but we don't know what genetic similarity has to do with the theory. Don't bring in outside knowledge! For all we know, the continents split apart before humans appeared (which, of course, is the case).

(C) is about climate, and we don't know anything about how climate would relate to continents and their past connections.

(D) is similar to (B).

(E) is similar to (B) and (D) - and "closely resemble" isn't as compelling as "rare" in terms of supporting the idea of a shared geographic past.

[griffin.811]

For this I got down to A and E. Eventually eliminated E thinking maybe the plants were brought from some third country, and as such is indiginous to neither place.

Plants are easier to move than rocks, and there is a solid reason for moving plants between continents...food.

[daytimeowl17]

I also got down to A, D, E and first eliminated E cuz it talks about South America in general instead of specifically mentioning its east coast. I ended up picking the right answer A, cuz I also didn't like how D talks about 'some' ppl in eastern South America and 'certain' western Africa, which could easily be those living apart from coast side. I just thought A is the strongest answer cuz it uses the precise language from the stimulus, unlike D and E. Hope this helps some of you still struggling among three contenders!

[mitrakhanom1]

What question type is this? It looks unfamiliar to me. What would be the steps taken to answer this question. Thanks.

[christine.defenbaugh]

It's kind of a weird question stem, isn't it mitrakhanom1?

I'd say that it's most closely related to a Strengthen question, since we're being asked to find an answer that most supports something in the stimulus. In fact, the only major thing that separates this from a traditional strengthen question is that we don't have any existing premises that support the 'hypothesis' we are trying to strengthen.

So, just as we would for a strengthen question, we're going to look for an answer that makes this hypothesis more likely. All of our answer choices suggest that there is some particular similarity between South America and Africa - but we need to focus on the one that best support this theory about landmass connection.

(A) connects the rock, or land itself, of the two continents, while the wrong answers focus on people, plants, and climate. Genetically similar people could have moved from continent to continent, similar languages could be developed by those people before they moved, plants can be moved from one location to another, and climate is affected by a billion things. But a large band of rock can't be easily moved from one continent to another without some serious help from the aliens.

Unusual question stems do appear from time to time, but they are always closely related to question types that you're familiar with. Take the time to break down the wording of an oddly phrased question stem to make absolutely certain that you are clear on your task!

Please let me know if that helps clear up a few things!

[contropositive]

I had it down to A and D. I eliminated B, C, and E because the answer choices are directly/indirectly speaking of today/now but the theory was talking about when South America was once joined with Africa. Therefore, A and D that were talking about "ancient rock and oldest tribes of people" looked better to me. I picked D because I didn't catch "ancient rock" in answer choice A. But looking at D now I think it would be wrong because its talking about "linguistically similar languages" I would like it more if it was saying "same language" I also agree with the instructor on D because it could have been before the existence of people and A is just a better fit.

[roflcoptersoisoi]

Premise: According to the theory of continent drift, many of today's separate continents were part of a huge landmass and began to break apart.

Hypothesis/Conclusion: South America was once joined on its east coast with what is now the west coast of Africa.

Assumption: Perhaps South America was not joined on its east coast exclusively by another part of the word.

(A) Looks good, if the SAME type of rare rock found in SA is also found in western africa then it makes it likely that the two regions were at some point connected, keep for now.
(B) What part of Brazil? Which part of West Arica? How genetically similar are they? This does not support the conclusion. Many Native Americans are genetically similar to Australian aboriginals, does that mean that the two regions were at one point connected?
(C) This doesn't support the conclusion. How similar were they? The fact that the climates of two regions are similar does not mean or support the notion that the two regions were at one point connected.
(D) How linguistically similar were they? Many languages are linguistically similar to other regions around the world, that doesn't mean that those regions were connected to one another.
(E) How closely do they resemble each other? Many palm trees in California resemble palm trees in western africa, that doesn't necessarily mean or support the idea that they were at one point connected.