LSAT RC Questions - Test 12, Section 2

[pqthinh2000]

Need another help, my friend!

Sea turtles nest only at their own birthplaces. After hatching on the beach, the turtles enter the water to begin their far-ranging migration, only returning to their birthplace to nest some 15 to 30 years later. It has been hypothesized that newborn sea turtles learn the smell of their environment, and it is this smell that stimulates the turtles to return to nest.
Which one of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the hypothesis in the passage?

A. Beaches on which sea turtles nest tend to be in secluded locations such as on islands.
B. Sea turtles exposed to a variety of environments under experimental conditions preferred the environment that contained sand form their own birthplaces.
C. Electronic tags attached to sea turtles did not alter their nesting patterns.
D. Unlike other types of turtles, sea turtles have a well-developed sense of smell.
E. Sea turtles that have their sense of smell destroyed by exposure to petroleum products returned to nest at their own birthplaces.

Source: http://www.quizlib.net/PlayingPublicTes ... quizid=124

[ohthatpatrick]

This is a Weaken question from the Logical Reasoning section.

The hypothesis given is that sea turtles find their way back to their birthplace by smell.

Our job is to weaken that hypothesis. There are two ways to do that:
1. Provide an alternative hypothesis
2. Make THIS hypothesis seem implausible

A. This doesn't seem to pose any problem for the hypothesis (and doesn't bring up an alternative)

B. Maybe we could say that "sand" is the alternative explanation? They're not smelling their way home, they're seeking out its sand? Hmm, that doesn't work. It's not about what THEY LIKE about their birthplace (sand). It's about HOW THEY FIND THEIR WAY BACK to their birthplace (smell?)

C. This doesn't seem to have any effect, unless you know that electronic tagging would somehow disrupt the sense of smell (that's not common sense to me!)

D. This strengthens the hypothesis

E. This shows that you don't NEED smell to find your way back. If turtles who could no longer smell could still find their way home, then they were clearly using SOMETHING ELSE besides sense of smell.

Since (E) shows that an alternative mode of finding your way home exists, it does more than any other answer choice to undermine the smell hypothesis.

Hope this helps.