Q2

[c.s.sun5]

I got really confused with this question and wasn't really sure what it was trying to ask me.

It first started that the author has an objection but I don't know what it's trying to say when they ask that it is most applicable to which situation. Is it trying to ask me to find a parallel?

The answer is (E) but I put (A) even though I narrowed it down to (A) and (E). I thought that it was trying to ask me whether any of the following choices was similar in reasoning to why the author objected to it. Since the passage said that the first hypothesis was believable because it relied on the change in the physics of the earth I thought it paralleled with the change mentioned in (A) more.

It's confusing to even explain what my thought process was but in general I was just very confused as to what the question was asking.

[giladedelman]

Thanks for posting.

The question is simply asking us to identify an explanation to which the author's objection to the second theory would apply. The objection is that "theories that depend on extraterrestrial intervention seem less convincing." So we're looking for an answer choice that describes a theory involving some kind of extraterrestrial intervention.

(E) fits the bill, because it's a theory that imputes the extinction of the dinosaurs to the impact of a comet, which is an extraterrestrial intervention.

(A) is incorrect because it doesn't involve any extraterrestrial interventions. You're right that the author would probably prefer this explanation based on his preference for the first theory in the passage, but we're not being asked about that! We're looking for an explanation that the author would object to.

Long story short, the rest of the answer choices are incorrect for the same reason: they don't involve any extraterrestrial stuff.

Does that answer your question, or are you still confused by this one?

[lesser.chris]

I fell into the same trap here - guessed A, and ruled out E as a 180 -- as an "objection to the second theory" seems to beg an answer that would be contrary to the second theory. The second theory involves a comet -- so I was looking for an answer that did NOT involve a comet/extraterrestrial action.

I've heard the LSAT supposedly doesn't use trick questions - but this one is intentionally tricky.