Q21

[lhermary]

Why is B wrong here?

[jamiejames]

I would also like to know this

[wguwguwgu]

Line 1-10: the prevailing view can not explain the existence of disease-causing viruses, because it takes the co-existence with the host as the only way through which a virus can survive/evolve. So it does not suggest potential success of lethal pathogens; on the contrary, it precludes such success actually.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Nice work wguwguwgu! The tricky part and the reason why I think the question was raised is something you instinctually saw.

The reason why answer choice (B) is so tempting is that it is a view that the biologists mentioned in line would agree with answer choice (B). But the question is not asking for any statement that the biologists would agree with, but rather a statement about the prevailing view that the biologists would agree with - tricky!!!

Answer choice (D) addresses the shortcomings of the prevailing view that the biologists would agree with.

Incorrect Answers

(A) is unsupported. The view is contradicted by some evidence, but we cannot say that it is contradicted by most evidence.
(B) is a statement the biologists agree with, but not one about the prevailing view of host-parasite relations.
(C) is contradicted. The behavior does exist, it's just not the only behavior biologists have observed.
(E) is mixed up. The view erroneously assumes that parasites never harm the hosts they feed off of.