LSAT Explanation PT 19, S4, Q12: On their way from their nest

LSAT Question Stem

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Most Strongly supported question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is C. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first break down the passage and clarify any confusing parts. The passage tells us that most ants leave a trail of pheromones, which are chemicals that help them navigate between their nest and food sources. However, these pheromones evaporate and become useless when temperatures rise above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), which is common in places like the Sahara Desert during afternoons.

To make this concept more relatable, think of the pheromones as breadcrumbs that ants use to find their way back home. But when it gets too hot, these breadcrumbs disappear, and ants may have difficulty navigating.

Now, let's identify the question type and what it's asking us to do. This is a Most Strongly Supported (MSS) question, which means we need to find the answer choice that is most strongly supported by the information in the passage.

Let's analyze each answer choice:

a) Most ants forage for food either only in the morning or only during the night.

- This answer choice assumes that most ants live in areas with high afternoon temperatures like the Sahara Desert. We have no evidence to support this assumption, so we cannot conclude that most ants forage for food only in the morning or night.

b) Most ants that do not use pheromones to mark the paths they take between their nest and food live in the Sahara Desert.

- While it's reasonable to conclude that Saharan ants might not use pheromones for navigation, we cannot say that most ants that don't use pheromones live in the Sahara Desert. There might be other places with high temperatures or other reasons for ants not to use pheromones.

c) If any ants live in the Sahara Desert and forage for food at no time but in the afternoon, those ants generally do not use pheromones to guide themselves between food and their nest.

- This answer choice is correct. It logically follows from the passage that if ants in the Sahara Desert forage for food only in the afternoon, when temperatures are typically too high for pheromones to be effective, they generally do not use pheromones for navigation.

d) If any ants do not use pheromones to navigate between food and their nest, those ants use a different substance that does not evaporate in temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius.

- This answer choice might seem tempting, but the passage doesn't provide any evidence that ants must use some substance like pheromones for navigation. It's possible that ants could use other methods, like visual cues, instead of a different substance.

e) If any Saharan ants forage for food in the afternoon, those ants forage for food less efficiently when temperatures are above 45 degrees Celsius than they do when temperatures are lower.

- While this answer choice may seem plausible, the passage doesn't provide enough evidence to support it. We don't know if Saharan ants use pheromones or if other navigation methods are less efficient at higher temperatures.

In conclusion, the correct answer choice for this Most Strongly Supported question is (c), as it is the most strongly supported by the information in the passage.