Q12 - In a study of tropical

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Question Type
Explain a Result

Stimulus
The statements present a finding that would benefit from an explanation. Namely, that the rarest trees survive longer than the most common trees, which reproduce the most quickly.

Anticipate
Why would the rarest trees live longer than those most common? It's hard to say. Maybe the age of trees is genetically determined, but then why would the same pattern hold across tropical forests? Whatever is offered as an explanation needs to account for the common pattern across tropical forests.

Correct Answer
(E) provides a difference between the rarest trees and the most common trees that could explain why the rarest survive longer than the most common trees within a forest.

Incorrect Answers
(A) seems to make it all the more puzzling that the rarest trees would then survive longer than the most common trees which according to this answer would be the best suited to the climate.

(B) is a common trap answer on Explain a Result questions. Answers that apply equally to both groups cannot explain a difference between them.

(C) is out of scope.

(D) describes a benefit to the forests from having the rarer trees after a moderately destructive event. But how does that explain why these long-living rare trees are longer living than the most common trees within a forest?

#officialexplanation