Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT107 S2 P3 Q18 Explanation

Platypus Bill

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

TopicsLocate DetailScience

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Passage

Scientists have long known that the soft surface of the bill of the platypus is perforated with openings that contain sensitive nerve endings. Only recently, however, have biologists concluded on the basis of new evidence that the animal uses its bill to locate its prey while underwater, a conclusion suggested by the bill. But Bohringer’s investigations did not explain how the animal locates its prey at a distance.

Scheich’s neurophysiological studies contribute to solving this mystery. His initial work showed that when a platypus feeds, it swims along steadily wagging its bill from side to side until prey is encountered. It thereupon switches to searching behavior, characterized by erratic movements of the bill over a small area at the bottom reasonable to assume that all the invertebrates on which the platypus feeds must produce electric fields.

What this question is testing

Locate Detail

Your task

Pin down exactly what the question asks about the passage — a detail, the author's view, the structure, or the main point — before looking at the choices.

Common trap

Answers that restate a true detail from the passage but don't answer the specific question being asked.

Winning move

Anticipate the answer in your own words from the passage, then find the choice that matches that prediction.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
18.

During the studies supporting Bohringer’s finding, as they are described in the passage, which one of the following occurred before a nerve impulse reached the

Answer choices

  1. Trap6% picked this

    The electroreceptors sent the nerve impulse to the fifth

  2. Trap3% picked this

    The neocortex induced a snapping movement of

  3. Trap7% picked this

    The mechanoreceptors sent the nerve impulse via the fifth cranial nerve

  4. Trap1% picked this

    The platypus opened the pores on

  5. Correct83% picked this

    The fifth cranial nerve carried the nerve impulse to

    Why this is right

    Answer E is correct.

    Skill tested: Locate Detail · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

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