Logical reasoning PrepTest 142 · Section 2 · Question 12

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
Shark teeth are some of the most common fossils; shark skeletons are among the rarest.

Answer Anticipation:
This stimulus raises a paradox that compares the frequency of shark teeth fossils to shark skeleton fossils. It's noted that the former are particularly common, but the latter are particularly rare.

Generally, when LSAT questions deal in comparisons, more points of comparison feature in the correct answers. Here, since the paradox involves a difference between shark teeth and skeleton fossils, the correct answer will establish what's different about them that explains this discrepancy. Let's head to the answer choices looking for any relevant difference.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights a difference between the teeth and the skeletons that explains why there would be more of the former than the latter, so this is our answer.

Key Takeaway:
Paradox questions frequently compare or contrast two things in establishing the paradox. Correct answers will usually bring up another similarity or difference that serves as an explanation for the paradoxical one.

Incorrect. This doesn't explain why these fossilized skeletons are so rare, though!

Incorrect. The stimulus establishes that shark teeth are among the most common fossils, so even if they are difficult to distinguish, the fact remains that they're among the most common. This answer is trying to get you to think that maybe they're overcounted because other fossils are mistaken for shark teeth, but that would call one of the statements from the stimulus into question.

Incorrect. First, this answer might explain why shark teeth are among the most common fossils but not why shark skeletons are rare among all types of fossils. Second, this answer is about sharks "alive today," and these sharks are potentially different from those alive long enough ago to have fossilized.

Incorrect. If anything, in raising a similarity between the process of fossilization for these two types of remains, this answer makes the paradox worse.