Q11 - Unlike other mechanical devices

[christine.defenbaugh]

Question Type:
Inference (Most Strongly Supported)

Stimulus Breakdown:
Clocks, oddly, have gone from complex to simpler over time, because the early ones predicted astronomical stuff in addition to telling time, and later ones didn't.

Answer Anticipation:
Not sure where the LSAT is intending to go with this one, but we can check each answer against this info.

Correct answer:
D

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Strong language alert! We know astronomical functions diminished over time - we don't know that modern clocks are useless for it now!

(B) This answer is so tempting. It sounds rather delightful at first. Since clocks got simpler, the older astronomy clocks need to be 'more complicated'. But they need to be more complicated than newer clocks, not more complicated than newer astronomical stuff (which apparently dropped out of clocks over time).

(C) Another comparison we can't support. The stimulus compares early clocks (with all their astronomical stuff) to later clocks (which lose the astronomical stuff). I don't know anything about how time-only-clocks (without astronomical stuff) compare to one another.

(D) Ah, finally the comparison that tracks with the info given. I know older clocks were more complex than newer ones. And I know older ones did astronomy stuff, and newer ones didn't. This answer just connects those two, and suggests that the older astronomy stuff was itself more complex than the newer clocks' time functions. No crazy leaps required.

(E) Out of scope alert - whoever said anything about how interested people were in predicting astronomical stuff? Just because this stuff dropped out of *clocks* doesn't necessarily mean people stopped caring. Maybe they started making something totally different to focus on astronomical predictions.

Takeaway/Pattern:
Sometimes, on inference questions, just the act of parsing and simplifying the information leads to a bit of a prediction for the answer. But other times, it's impossible to tell what the LSAT writers are going to test us on. When there's not an obvious 'aha!' moment when sorting the information, and prediction isn't practical, vetting each answer against the given information is then the way to go. Keep your eye out for classic traps such as overly strong language and off topic leaps, and keep your own assumptions in check. Stick to the text!

#officialexplanation

[ivyl981]

I chose B instead of D.
The stimulus said the earliest clocks are the most complicated one in mechanical complexity, because it was primarily used to predict astronomical phenomena, and incidentally used to tell time. But now the clocks become simpler, due to diminished astronomical function and more important timekeeping function.

So my question is, (1)Why B is wrong? Stimuli already said the astronomical functions in recent clock diminished compared to the past in the same aspect. Doesn't it mean exactly what b said that past clocks are more complicated than recent ones regarding astronomical functions?

(2)Why D is right? I don't get that how can the right answer compares the complexity of【astronomical functions of past clock VS. timekeeping functions of recent clock】. That's two different functions. We only know astronomical function became less significant, and timekeeping function became more significant.

Could someone answer my questions? Thanks in advance!