Resolve a Contradiction
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LSAT Reading › Resolve a Contradiction
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
A rare mutation affecting plumage color became more common in the reserve during the study period.
Populations of nest predators in the reserve have increased markedly in recent years.
Habitat loss in surrounding areas has displaced birds from multiple distinct source populations into the reserve, increasing genetic mixing even as overall numbers within the reserve have fallen due to limited nesting sites and higher predation.
Several of the reserve's interior forest patches experienced temporary flooding that reduced nesting success.
The most recent surveys used automated recording units instead of human listeners at some points.
Explanation
Immigration from multiple external sources can boost genetic diversity while total numbers drop if the reserve cannot support all newcomers. The other options either rest on methodology (A) or only explain reduced success or demographic decline without accounting for higher genetic variation (B, D, E).
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
Angling pressure on the river has decreased since the restoration due to new permit limits.
Upgrades that reduced suspended solids also cut nutrient loads, substantially lowering the abundance of aquatic invertebrates that trout feed on.
The restored reach now features additional gravel bars that improve spawning habitat for trout.
The riparian plantings added extensive shade along the riverbanks.
Volunteer monitors switched to more precise counting nets, improving detection of smaller trout.
Explanation
If clarity improved while nutrient reductions shrank trout prey, trout could decline despite clearer water. The other choices either predict an increase, change measurement without reconciling the ecology, or strengthen conditions that should help trout.
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
A large proportion of e-book purchases occur during deep-discount promotions that lead many buyers to stockpile titles they do not read right away, if at all.
The time-use survey added explicit prompts about reading on tablets and phones.
Average per-title e-book prices fell substantially compared to prior years.
Listening to audiobooks rose sharply, with many readers substituting listening for reading.
Participation in in-person book clubs declined over the same period.
Explanation
If many purchases are stockpiled and go unread, unit sales can rise while time spent reading falls. The other choices either explain one trend without the other or would tend to increase measured reading time.
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
The timing of the reported price increase fell at the end of a quarter, after the revenue decline had already occurred.
StreamCo increased its content spending by 20 percent to secure exclusive rights to several films.
StreamCo launched a deeply discounted, ad-supported tier that it counted as a subscription, and a large share of existing users downgraded to that tier while promotional credits reduced billed amounts.
A brief billing-system outage delayed invoicing for some customers during the week the new price took effect.
Foreign currency fluctuations modestly increased average revenue per user in regions where the dollar weakened.
Explanation
If many subscribers shifted to a cheaper, counted tier and promotions lowered charges, the company could add subscriptions while earning less subscription revenue even after a list-price hike. This reconciles the increase in subscribers with the revenue decline. The other options are irrelevant, too small to matter, or do not address the contradiction.
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
Industrial emissions fell as intended, but the same year saw record pollen levels and several wildfire smoke days that caused short‑term irritant spikes, driving asthma attacks even as annual average pollution declined.
Most of the city's fixed air-quality monitors are located near waterfront parks rather than traffic corridors.
The previous year featured unusually low pollen counts compared with the decade average.
The city added miles of new protected bike lanes and a downtown pedestrian plaza.
Emergency rooms in Lakeview extended their hours and reduced wait times during the year.
Explanation
Short-term spikes from pollen and wildfire smoke can increase asthma ER visits even if annual averages of targeted pollutants improve. That allows both cleaner average air and more asthma exacerbations to occur. The other options are irrelevant, undermine the monitoring without reconciling, or are too weak to account for the observed increase.
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
The museum began hosting weekly free concerts in its entry hall and opened a cafe and store accessible before ticketed gallery entrances, while its visitor count registered anyone who came through the front doors.
Two small galleries were closed for renovation during the year, reducing available exhibition space by 8 percent.
Survey data showed that visitors rated the new permanent collection hang more highly than the previous one.
The museum's advertising emphasized new family scavenger hunts designed to direct visitors through core galleries.
Several occupancy sensors malfunctioned intermittently, prompting guards to record manual headcounts on those days.
Explanation
If many people entered for concerts or amenities before the ticket barrier, total entries could rise while fewer minutes were spent in galleries. This reconciles higher door counts with lower gallery engagement. The other options either restate the problem, address only one metric, or are irrelevant.
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
Tree-ring analyses suggest that decades of past deer browsing altered soil conditions, limiting seed viability for some shrub species.
Wolf numbers leveled off after an initial period of growth, and the animals now rarely move into human settlements.
During the study period, cattle grazing permits expanded into the same valleys where shrubs were monitored, and cattle browse heavily on those shrub species, maintaining high browsing pressure despite fewer deer.
The deer decline was most pronounced in high-elevation meadows, while shrub monitoring focused on low-elevation valleys.
Several wet years increased overall plant biomass in the reserve's meadows.
Explanation
If cattle replaced deer as the main browsers in the monitored valleys, browsing on shrubs could remain high even as deer numbers fell. That reconciles the deer decline with continued shrub loss. The other options are irrelevant, address only legacy effects without ongoing pressure, or contradict the study's focus on the same valleys.
Which of the following, if true, most helps explain how both statements can be true?
Rapid growth in the total number of gasoline-burning vehicles—driven by booming ride-hailing fleets and a shift of some light freight from diesel to gasoline engines—increased aggregate gasoline consumption even as the average privately owned car used less fuel.
To avoid the higher tax, many drivers who live near the border purchased fuel in neighboring countries and brought it back in portable containers.
Because of lingering pandemic habits, many households took fewer long-distance vacations by car than in previous years.
The tax prompted a subset of urban commuters to switch from driving to public transit during peak hours.
Consumers bought more hybrid vehicles in response to the tax, reducing per-vehicle gasoline use across the board.
Explanation
If the number and activity of gasoline-fueled vehicles (such as ride-hailing and light freight) rose enough, total sales can increase while the average privately owned car uses less. The other options either only reduce demand (B, C, D) or would depress domestic sales rather than raise them (E).