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Every human culture has taboos against eating certain animals.
[#permalink]
11 Sep 2018, 00:02
11 Sep 2018, 00:02
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Difficulty:
95%
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Question Stats:
46% (02:09) correct
54%
(02:03)
wrong
based on 338
sessions
Anthropologist: Every human culture has taboos against eating certain animals. Some researchers have argued that such taboos originated solely for practical reasons, pointing out, for example, that in many cultures it is taboo to eat domestic animals that provide labor and that are therefore worth more alive than dead. But that conclusion is unwarranted; taboos against eating certain animals might instead have arisen for symbolic, ritualistic reasons, and the presence of the taboos might then have led people to find other uses for those animals.
In the argument, the anthropologist
(A) calls an explanation of a phenomenon into question by pointing out that observations cited as evidence supporting it are also compatible with an alternative explanation of the phenomenon
(B) establishes that an explanation of a phenomenon is false by demonstrating that the evidence that had been cited in support of that explanation was inadequate"
(C) rejects the reasoning used to justify a hypothesis about the origins of a phenomenon, on the grounds that there exists another, more plausible hypothesis about the origins of that phenomenon
(D) argues in support of one explanation of a phenomenon by citing evidence incompatible with a rival explanation
(E) describes a hypothesis about the sequence of events involved in the origins of a phenomenon, and then argues that those events occurred in a different sequence
LSAT
In the argument, the anthropologist
(A) calls an explanation of a phenomenon into question by pointing out that observations cited as evidence supporting it are also compatible with an alternative explanation of the phenomenon
(B) establishes that an explanation of a phenomenon is false by demonstrating that the evidence that had been cited in support of that explanation was inadequate"
(C) rejects the reasoning used to justify a hypothesis about the origins of a phenomenon, on the grounds that there exists another, more plausible hypothesis about the origins of that phenomenon
(D) argues in support of one explanation of a phenomenon by citing evidence incompatible with a rival explanation
(E) describes a hypothesis about the sequence of events involved in the origins of a phenomenon, and then argues that those events occurred in a different sequence
LSAT
Re: Every human culture has taboos against eating certain animals.
[#permalink]
11 Sep 2018, 11:45
11 Sep 2018, 11:45
1
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AshutoshB wrote:
Anthropologist: Every human culture has taboos against eating certain animals. Some researchers have argued that such taboos originated solely for practical reasons, pointing out, for example, that in many cultures it is taboo to eat domestic animals that provide labor and that are therefore worth more alive than dead. But that conclusion is unwarranted; taboos against eating certain animals might instead have arisen for symbolic, ritualistic reasons, and the presence of the taboos might then have led people to find other uses for those animals.
In the argument, the anthropologist
(A) calls an explanation of a phenomenon into question by pointing out that observations cited as evidence supporting it are also compatible with an alternative explanation of the phenomenon
(B) establishes that an explanation of a phenomenon is false by demonstrating that the evidence that had been cited in support of that explanation was inadequate"
(C) rejects the reasoning used to justify a hypothesis about the origins of a phenomenon, on the grounds that there exists another, more plausible hypothesis about the origins of that phenomenon
(D) argues in support of one explanation of a phenomenon by citing evidence incompatible with a rival explanation
(E) describes a hypothesis about the sequence of events involved in the origins of a phenomenon, and then argues that those events occurred in a different sequence
LSAT
In the argument, the anthropologist
(A) calls an explanation of a phenomenon into question by pointing out that observations cited as evidence supporting it are also compatible with an alternative explanation of the phenomenon
(B) establishes that an explanation of a phenomenon is false by demonstrating that the evidence that had been cited in support of that explanation was inadequate"
(C) rejects the reasoning used to justify a hypothesis about the origins of a phenomenon, on the grounds that there exists another, more plausible hypothesis about the origins of that phenomenon
(D) argues in support of one explanation of a phenomenon by citing evidence incompatible with a rival explanation
(E) describes a hypothesis about the sequence of events involved in the origins of a phenomenon, and then argues that those events occurred in a different sequence
LSAT
E fits as well. Here the reasoning is
Cause: Animals useful -> Effect: Taboos generated to protect them
Alternate reason given:
Cause: Taboos generated to protect animals -> Effect: People found other uses for animals considering they might as well since they cannot eat them.
Here the sequence reverses.
The first option is also legal, since the observation that in many cultures it is taboo to eat domestic animals that provide labor and that are therefore worth more alive than dead does indeed sit well with the other explanation.
We are splitting hairs here.
Re: Every human culture has taboos against eating certain animals.
[#permalink]
11 Sep 2018, 12:10
11 Sep 2018, 12:10
mitrakaushi wrote:
AshutoshB wrote:
Anthropologist: Every human culture has taboos against eating certain animals. Some researchers have argued that such taboos originated solely for practical reasons, pointing out, for example, that in many cultures it is taboo to eat domestic animals that provide labor and that are therefore worth more alive than dead. But that conclusion is unwarranted; taboos against eating certain animals might instead have arisen for symbolic, ritualistic reasons, and the presence of the taboos might then have led people to find other uses for those animals.
In the argument, the anthropologist
(A) calls an explanation of a phenomenon into question by pointing out that observations cited as evidence supporting it are also compatible with an alternative explanation of the phenomenon
(B) establishes that an explanation of a phenomenon is false by demonstrating that the evidence that had been cited in support of that explanation was inadequate"
(C) rejects the reasoning used to justify a hypothesis about the origins of a phenomenon, on the grounds that there exists another, more plausible hypothesis about the origins of that phenomenon
(D) argues in support of one explanation of a phenomenon by citing evidence incompatible with a rival explanation
(E) describes a hypothesis about the sequence of events involved in the origins of a phenomenon, and then argues that those events occurred in a different sequence
LSAT
In the argument, the anthropologist
(A) calls an explanation of a phenomenon into question by pointing out that observations cited as evidence supporting it are also compatible with an alternative explanation of the phenomenon
(B) establishes that an explanation of a phenomenon is false by demonstrating that the evidence that had been cited in support of that explanation was inadequate"
(C) rejects the reasoning used to justify a hypothesis about the origins of a phenomenon, on the grounds that there exists another, more plausible hypothesis about the origins of that phenomenon
(D) argues in support of one explanation of a phenomenon by citing evidence incompatible with a rival explanation
(E) describes a hypothesis about the sequence of events involved in the origins of a phenomenon, and then argues that those events occurred in a different sequence
LSAT
E fits as well. Here the reasoning is
Cause: Animals useful -> Effect: Taboos generated to protect them
Alternate reason given:
Cause: Taboos generated to protect animals -> Effect: People found other uses for animals considering they might as well since they cannot eat them.
Here the sequence reverses.
The first option is also legal, since the observation that in many cultures it is taboo to eat domestic animals that provide labor and that are therefore worth more alive than dead does indeed sit well with the other explanation.
We are splitting hairs here.
Originally I thought so too since I originally chose E. But after reviewing the passage and the answer choices, I now understand why E is wrong.
E states that the author referred to the hypothesis, in which he then re-ordered the sequence of events that seemed "more logically sound". But the hypothesis didn't mention anything about the religious context, it was the author who brought it up. Thus E is wrong.
