Q16 - Zoos have served both as

[r1r200]

Is D incorrect bc it says NEARLY ALL? and the stimulus says " most new zoo animals"?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Good question. Not exactly, but that is a common interpretation of answer choice (D) which makes it tempting for many people.

"Nearly all" and "most" are not that much different in meaning. So the reason why answer choice (D) is incorrect should lay elsewhere. Answer choice (D) says "nearly all of the animals in zoos today." But the stimulus says that "most new zoo animals are obtained." The difference is the word "new." It could be that many animals in zoos today were not obtained through a captive breeding program because they've been there for a while. So while most new animals might be obtained through captive breeding programs, that does not imply that most animals in zoos were obtained in that manner.

This is an inference question. We simply need to find an answer choice that can be inferred from the stimulus, without making any leaps or switches in subject matter as with answer choice (D).

(A) is not a claim that can be inferred. Two issues: one, we don't know that zoos played an essential role, and two, we don't know that zoos educated the public about endangered species.
(B) is supported in the stimulus. If zoos make efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild, then some endangered species are born and bred in zoos.
(C) is not supported by the stimulus. The stimulus actually says that the earliest zoos reduced certain species' populations, endangering their survival.
(D) is close but it should have said, "nearly all new animals..."
(E) is not supported. We don't know what the main purpose of zoos has been or is today.

Does that help clear this one up? Let me know if you still need help with it!

[rdown2b]

But nothing in the stimulus says that endangered species were BORN in the Zoos?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Correct, but it is implied in the last sentence. The word "this" in the last sentence refers to what? It refers to the captive breeding program. So if the captive breeding program makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild, it must be the case that at least some specimens of endangered species are born and bred in zoos.

Make sense?

[Sweetangel]

Hi,

I got this answer right but was still confused by it. Does "breeding stocks" mean that the animals are born in the zoos? If so, that will really clear things up. If not, I still don't see how we can infer that the animals are born in the zoos from zoos obtaining the animals from captive breeding programs (which could be elsewhere) and maintaining the stocks at the zoo.

Also, why can't a reason for eliminating D be it's use of "nearly all"? Even if not using the "new zoo animals" for weakening the answer, if "most" could mean 51%, I see it as far from the "nearly all" that is stated. Please help me understand how "most" and "nearly all" aren't that different in meaning.

Thank you!

[erikrynko]

First, Nearly All is equivalent to Most in LSAT conditional logic language. I could buy 60% of the bananas in a fruit stand, and say that I purchased nearly all of them.

Second, Answer D is flawed, because the stimulus only says that "most NEW zoo animals are obtained from captive breeding programs). We don't know how many of the animals alive in the zoo are NEW (most from captive breeding) or still living from the original stock that was born in the wild, "removed from their natural habitats to stock the earliest zoos".

However, I still believe that D is the best choice, but that is because I also believe that B is incorrect.

The stimulus NEVER says that endangered species are being bred in captivity, it just says "most zoo animals", or "continued propagation of various species". That doesn't mean that those animals or species are endangered.

Now, the last sentence in the stimulus does refer to endangered species, “This makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild”. After reading the Official Answer, I assume the LSAT question writer intended for that sentence to refer to the previous sentence, suggesting that the efforts to maintain breeding stock to propagate various species would be used in the wild. Therefore, some of the breeding stock would have to be comprised of endangered species, since that effort would reestablish endangered species in the wild. However, this is not the only way these sentences can be interpreted.
The last sentence only states, “This makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild”. However, that doesn't mean that the zoos are repopulating the endangered species by using the "breeding stocks" or other zoo animals that are born in zoos to help reestablish anything. That sentence can easily refer to the modification of the earlier sentence "unfortunately, removing animals from their natural habitats to stock the earliest zoos reduced certain species' populations, endangering their survival".
When the next sentence began "Today most new..." it was making a modification to the previous sentence "Unfortunately...". Again, the final sentence, “This makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild”, can be referring to the change in the zoo’s animal policies and practices that affords them to no longer stock the zoos by “removing animals from their natural habitats”, which “reduced certain species’ populations, endangering their survival”.
Basically, zoos were creating endangered species due to their early practices of harvesting animals from their natural habitats to stock the zoos with animals. Since zoos no longer have to stock their animals this way due to their fancy new breeding programs, these wild animal populations can recover. However, it doesn’t matter if the zoos are breeding endangered species, they aren’t required to continually breed endangered species in order to continually stock their zoos with exotic animals. They can simply be breeding other non-endangered animals, deciding to not stock the zoos with endangered animals any longer.
To make it clear, again, the endangered species in the wild can recover, not because the zoo is restocking them with animals bred in captivity, but simply because the zoos are no longer snatching them up out of the wild to stock their zoos with these animals.

Anyways, it’s not like I think answer D is infallible either, I just like it better. The stimulus refers to “earliest zoos” as the zoos that snatched up animals. Although it doesn’t make a clear distinction that “Today’s” zoos aren’t the same zoos—it certainly implies that they are different zoos! At least that’s how I read it. I admit, they could certainly be the same zoos, and then these zoos can still be housing many endangered species, still surviving from the snatching days. If the zoos were comprised of over 50% of surviving animals that were born in the wild, then nearly all zoo animals were not born in captivity. However, since Nearly All, is really synonymous with “Most”, this choice seemed more correct and attractive than choice B, because of the implications.

The other answers are all garbage. Both B and D are technically incorrect.

[oyxy1111]

First, Nearly All is equivalent to Most in LSAT conditional logic language. I could buy 60% of the bananas in a fruit stand, and say that I purchased nearly all of them.

Second, Answer D is flawed, because the stimulus only says that "most NEW zoo animals are obtained from captive breeding programs). We don't know how many of the animals alive in the zoo are NEW (most from captive breeding) or still living from the original stock that was born in the wild, "removed from their natural habitats to stock the earliest zoos".

However, I still believe that D is the best choice, but that is because I also believe that B is incorrect.

The stimulus NEVER says that endangered species are being bred in captivity, it just says "most zoo animals", or "continued propagation of various species". That doesn't mean that those animals or species are endangered.

Now, the last sentence in the stimulus does refer to endangered species, “This makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild”. After reading the Official Answer, I assume the LSAT question writer intended for that sentence to refer to the previous sentence, suggesting that the efforts to maintain breeding stock to propagate various species would be used in the wild. Therefore, some of the breeding stock would have to be comprised of endangered species, since that effort would reestablish endangered species in the wild. However, this is not the only way these sentences can be interpreted.
The last sentence only states, “This makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild”. However, that doesn't mean that the zoos are repopulating the endangered species by using the "breeding stocks" or other zoo animals that are born in zoos to help reestablish anything. That sentence can easily refer to the modification of the earlier sentence "unfortunately, removing animals from their natural habitats to stock the earliest zoos reduced certain species' populations, endangering their survival".
When the next sentence began "Today most new..." it was making a modification to the previous sentence "Unfortunately...". Again, the final sentence, “This makes possible efforts to reestablish endangered species in the wild”, can be referring to the change in the zoo’s animal policies and practices that affords them to no longer stock the zoos by “removing animals from their natural habitats”, which “reduced certain species’ populations, endangering their survival”.
Basically, zoos were creating endangered species due to their early practices of harvesting animals from their natural habitats to stock the zoos with animals. Since zoos no longer have to stock their animals this way due to their fancy new breeding programs, these wild animal populations can recover. However, it doesn’t matter if the zoos are breeding endangered species, they aren’t required to continually breed endangered species in order to continually stock their zoos with exotic animals. They can simply be breeding other non-endangered animals, deciding to not stock the zoos with endangered animals any longer.
To make it clear, again, the endangered species in the wild can recover, not because the zoo is restocking them with animals bred in captivity, but simply because the zoos are no longer snatching them up out of the wild to stock their zoos with these animals.

Anyways, it’s not like I think answer D is infallible either, I just like it better. The stimulus refers to “earliest zoos” as the zoos that snatched up animals. Although it doesn’t make a clear distinction that “Today’s” zoos aren’t the same zoos—it certainly implies that they are different zoos! At least that’s how I read it. I admit, they could certainly be the same zoos, and then these zoos can still be housing many endangered species, still surviving from the snatching days. If the zoos were comprised of over 50% of surviving animals that were born in the wild, then nearly all zoo animals were not born in captivity. However, since Nearly All, is really synonymous with “Most”, this choice seemed more correct and attractive than choice B, because of the implications.

The other answers are all garbage. Both B and D are technically incorrect.

I agree with you!