Logical Reasoning

PT128 · S3 · Q13 Sexual reproduction is achieved when

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

  • Save & drill this skill build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Sexual reproduction is achieved when the gamete of a male organism unites with the gamete of a female organism to form a new and genetically unique cell.

Statements

Making a new baby involves the gamete of the male parent and the gamete of the female parent equally linking up to make the genetic material in the nucleus.

Outside the nucleus, in the cytoplasm, it's just the female's genetic material.

GM62 is found only in cytoplasm.

Evaluate

It sounds like we could say that , since we know GM62 is in the cyto, and the cyto is 100% from the female.

Goal

Look for something reinforcing the idea that "GM62 comes only from the female", or maybe a weirder extension of that, like, .

13.

Which one of the following is a conclusion that can logically be drawn from the passage above?

  1. All female organisms contribute GM62

    Reversed Logic

    We know that if we see GM62 ? must have come from female But this answer is saying female ? must provide GM62

    8% picked this

  2. Correct

    Only female organisms can contribute

    Why this is right

    This looks like what we were looking for: GM62 comes from the female parent. Since "only" indicates a necessary (right side) condition, this would conditionally look like this: GM62 in offspring ? female contributed it

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

    87% picked this

  3. Genetic material is evenly divided

    Unsupported: equally divided

    Within the nucleus, genetic material is evenly divided between from the male and from the female. But we have no support for the idea that within the overall cell, there's an equal amount of genetic material in the nucleus as there is in the cytoplasm.

    3% picked this

  4. The role of the male

    Unsupported Comparison: less important

    It sounds like the two gametes are equally important in the sense that we are told "sexual repro is achieved when male gamete unites with female gamete. Each of the two gametes contributes equally." We would only be arguing that the female gamete is more important because we know that the cytoplasm outside the nucleus comes from the female gamete. But do we have any reason to think that the cytoplasm is important to sexual reproduction? It's not quite a Must Be True notion to say, "because you supplied more raw material to the overall finished product (the new cell), your role was more important." Kevin Bacon and Demi Moore each contributed more raw material to the film "A Few Good Men", but Jack Nicholson's 10 mins onscreen (which gave us the iconic 'You can't handle the truth!') would still be considered at least as important to the film's success.

    1% picked this

  5. It is likely that other

    Too Strong: likely

    We can't prove this speculative prediction that in the future we will balance out female's GM62 advantage with some exclusively male genetic material.

    1% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free