PrepTest 157

[lcid:3726] Prep Test 157 LSAT — Logical Reasoning — S3 Logical reasoning

Question prompt

Superstring theory is a Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Facts

Strategy Overview

Argument or facts in passage?
If argument, identify premises and conclusions
Sufficient/necessary conditions in the passage?
If so, diagram statements and draw any deductions
Use anticipation to find the answer choice that is absolutely 100% true

Answer Anticipation

Although this set of facts features a requirement word ("have to"), most test-takers would probably find it easier to make the inference without diagramming. Instead, we'll summarize the passage and see if we can anticipate a must-be-true deduction. The author identifies two problems with superstring theory. First, testing it requires a 100-trillion-km-long particle accelerator, which is obviously not feasible. Second, it hasn't explained why gravitational force is not stronger or weaker than it is, which isn't promising. Not so super, are ya, superstring theory? So, what can we infer from these facts? If the author thinks these two facts are "problems," the author must think that a good theory would not suffer from these problems. In other words, we should be able to test a theory with feasible means. And if a theory purports to explain something like gravity, it should be able to explain why that force is as strong as it is. The correct answer might reference this anticipation. But we should keep an open mind as we assess the answer choices. We'll look for anything that could be plausibly supported by the facts in the passage, and we'll try to avoid anything that brings up new ideas or is expressed with unsupported, strong, SCOTUS-y language.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Superstring theory would be Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    This is tempting! After all, superstring theory's failure to explain why the force of gravity is not stronger or weaker than it is is a "problem" for this author. So, wouldn't the theory be more successful if superstring theorists attempted to explain why the force isn't stronger or weaker than it is?

    Well, who's to say they haven't already attempted to explain that? The author just says the theory has had "no success" in explaining why gravity isn't stronger or weaker than it is. It's possible that the superstring theorists have tried and failed to explain this. So, theorists could have attempted to explain this, yet it's still true that superstring theory isn't successful.

  2. B
    Physical theories that are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    Well, it seems plausible that there must be other theories that are more successful than superstring theory. But ... the passage didn't tell us about any of those. The passage never discussed or even alluded to other theories that are more established than superstring theory. So, we don't have any evidence to support the claim that this answer choice makes. Remember our mantra for Connecting Facts questions — when connecting facts, stick to the facts!

  3. C
    Some physical theory more Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    This is basically the same answer choice as (B), except it tries to bait us with the kind of weak language we typically like on Must Be True questions ("some") and repeated phrases from the passage. However, the passage didn't tell us about any other physical theories, so we don't have any evidence to conclude that another theory has better explained why gravity isn't stronger or weaker than it is. Remember our mantra for Connecting Facts questions — when connecting facts, stick to the facts!

  4. D
    A physical theory cannot Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    This is a bit too bold! The author says that superstring theory has a few "problems" — not that superstring theory "cannot be true." While the author would call superstring theory problematic, unconvincing, and deficient, we don't know if the author would say that "cannot be true." Perhaps the author believes that superstring theory might be true, even if we can't feasibly test it. Remember, unconvincing theories and arguments can still be true!

  5. E
    A theory that purports Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    This matches the inference we anticipated ("a theory purports to explain something like gravity, it should be able to explain why that force is as strong as it is"), so we confidently select it. After all, this passage's author must believe this claim is true. Suppose the author didn't believe this claim. Suppose the author thought that a theory that purports to explain the nature of a force (like gravity) isn't deficient, even if it can't account for the strength of that force. In that case, it wouldn't be a "problem" that superstring theory cannot account for why the force of gravity is not stronger or weaker than it is! So, we can confidently conclude that the author must believe that (E) is true.

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