Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT122 S2 Q6 Explanation

The cattle egret is a bird

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

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Stimulus

The cattle egret is a bird that lives around herds of cattle. The only available explanation of the fact that the cattle egret follows cattle herds is that the egrets consume grasses as the cattle herds graze.

What this question is testing

Weaken

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion less likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that look negative but attack a claim the argument never relied on.

Winning move

Find the assumption the argument depends on, then pick the choice that undermines it.

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

The question
6.

Which one of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the claim that the explanation given above is

Answer choices

  1. No Impact5% picked this

    Birds other than cattle egrets have been observed consuming insects stirred up by the

    This choice states that other birds eat the insects stirred up by cattle, reiterating the existing explanation we already know for why egrets hang out with cattle. But we need a new storyline, unrelated to eating the stirred-up insects.

  2. No Impact9% picked this

    Cattle egrets are known to follow other slow-moving animals, such as

    This suggests egrets also follow other slow-moving animals, which reiterates observed behavior without offering a new reason. It fails to provide an alternate explanation beyond insect access.

  3. Correct81% picked this

    The presence of cattle dissuades many would-be predators of the

    Why this is right

    This provides an alternate explanation: the presence of cattle dissuades egret predators. This gives a new reason for following herds, beyond just the insect-stirring explanation.

    Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  4. No Impact3% picked this

    Cattle egrets are not generally known to live outside the range of

    This repeats that egrets like being around large animals but does not suggest an alternate reason for this preference related to the original claim about insects.

  5. No Impact3% picked this

    Forests are generally inhospitable to cattle egrets because of a lack of insects of the

    This states that forests are inhospitable due to lack of insects, reinforcing the initial insect-related reasoning rather than providing an alternative motivation for egrets following cattle.

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