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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by smiller Fri Dec 31, 1999 8:00 pm

Question Type:
Inference

Stimulus Breakdown:
The stimulus contains two conditional statements:
cultivated → people discovered agriculture 1000s of years before other known instances
~ cultivated → people ate wider variety of plants than any other groups at the time

Answer Anticipation:
Since the stimulus contains conditional statements, we should watch out for incorrect answers that try to negate or reverse those statements incorrectly.

Correct Answer:
(B)

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) Out of scope. Nothing in the stimulus is about determining which types of plants these are. We only know what can be concluded if they are of one type or the other.

(B) Correct. If the plants were cultivated, we have support for the idea that people at the site were using some plants—the cultivated ones—in ways that no one else was. But what if the plants were wild? In that case we know that these people ate a wider variety of wild plants than any others at that time. "A wider variety" supports the idea that they were eating types of plants that other people weren't. Is this 100% provable from the facts in the stimulus? No, but it doesn't have to be, since this question asks us to find the answer that is "most supported."

(C) Invalid reversal. This answer choice talks about reaching a "more advanced stage in the use of wild plants." This corresponds most closely to eating "a wider variety of wild plants" in the last sentence in the stimulus. However, choice (C) presents an invalid reversal of that last sentence. If choice (C) read, "if the people had not reached a more advanced stage in the use of wild plants than any other people at the time, then the plants at the site were cultivated, that would be a reasonable contrapositive.

(D) Invalid reversal. This is a reversal of the second sentence in the stimulus.

(E) Unsupported comparison. The stimulus doesn't give us any reason to think one scenario is more likely than the other.

Takeaway/Pattern: Remember that there are two types of Inference questions: ones that ask for an answer that must be true, and ones that ask for the answer that is "most supported." For both types, but especially in the latter case, working from wrong to right is the key. Eliminate the four answers that are most clearly incorrect.

#officialexplanation
 
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Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by mck73 Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:37 pm

Hi,

Could someone explain why b is the correct answer? I originally chose it, but then I thought about it and it didn't really seem to be airtight. If the plants were cultivated, then agriculture was discovered before anyone else was KNOWN to have done so. That doesn't preclude other people from having discovered agriculture as well. Perhaps other people discovered agriculture too at roughly the same time at site B 3 miles down but that site just hasn't been discovered yet. And if that's the case, perhaps they used the same plants in the same ways.

Conversely, if it was uncultivated, then all we know is that the people ate a wider variety of plants. But that doesn't mean they used the plants in different ways. I'd chomp on a piece of celery in much the same way I'd chomp on a carrot. Other than the fact that the two plants are different, I'm not using the plants in different ways.

Am I missing something here? Thanks.
 
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by csunnerberg13 Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:59 pm

The key to this question is that you are basically put into a binary situation.

Either they are cultivated --> they discovered agriculture before anyone else is known to have done so

OR

they are not cultivated --> they ate a wider variety of plants than any other people at the time.

In either situation, they are doing something that is not done by other people of the time. I agree that a possible loophole is that it says "known to have done so." But usually LSAT answers aren't totally airtight, or they would be easier to answer. You're looking for the best possible answer, and that is B.

(A) we have no idea if they will or won't be able to figure it out and there's no indication one way or the other

The next 2 are conditionals, which are enticing at first because on an inference question with conditionals in it, it seems likely that it will be playing off of one of our conditionals. Here are all the connections that the stimulus supplies for us, and then we can run through the wrong answers...

Key:
DA = discovered agriculture before others
C = cultivated
WVP = ate a wider variety of plants than others

C --> DA
(Contrapositive -DA --> -C)

-C --> WVP
(Contrapositive -WVP --> C)

Stringing these together, we can get:
-DA --> -C --> WVP
and
-WVP --> C --> DA

Now to the answer choices:
(C) tells us WVP --> -C
That's not a valid inference

(D) DA --> C
That's not a valid inference

(E) Not a conditional, but it's making a comparison about one thing being more likely than another and we have no language to indicate one thing being more likely in the stimulus so you can eliminate E as well.
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by tommywallach Wed Oct 02, 2013 11:25 am

Hey Guys,

So, I gotta be honest about something strange. I think this question is wrong. I've never written this before about an LSAT question, so I'm nervous about it, but I really really think it.

HOWEVER, I don't think it's wrong for the reason cited by mck. You absolutely could get to (B) from the issue of "known to have done so," because that's how research works. We always conclude based on the knowledge we have.

The problem for me is very simple. We are told that the people who occupied the site ate a wider variety of plants than any other people. This, however, does not mean they are using plants in ways nobody else does. Here's an example:

People at site: Ate Foods X, Y, and Z
People at other place: Ate foods X and Y
People at other place: Ate foods Y and Z

Now, we still know that the people at the site ate a "wider variety of wild plants," but they aren't doing anything that nobody else did.

I hate to say it, but LSAC really screwed this one up. I'd tell them, if they ever answered my calls.

-t

P.S. (B) is still probably the best answer, by the way, but this is a terrible, terrible question.
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by esultana Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:18 pm

Ha! Thank you Tommy! I was just about to post with that exact concern.

When I took the exam today I eliminated B because that exact point ran through my head. Glad to see that I'm thinking the right thoughts, even if I still got the answer incorrect.
 
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by yjj182 Thu Oct 03, 2013 2:33 am

hi
i crossed out B because
i read "ate a wider variety of wild plants than did any other people at the time" to mean
that for example they would 15 different types of plants
and that there would be other groups with less than 15.

but couldn't the aggregate of the different plants that the other groups eat amount to a greater number of plants that the particular group eats,while also including all 15 that they eat? thanks.
 
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by Stormexe Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:52 pm

tommywallach Wrote:Hey Guys,

So, I gotta be honest about something strange. I think this question is wrong. I've never written this before about an LSAT question, so I'm nervous about it, but I really really think it.

HOWEVER, I don't think it's wrong for the reason cited by mck. You absolutely could get to (B) from the issue of "known to have done so," because that's how research works. We always conclude based on the knowledge we have.

The problem for me is very simple. We are told that the people who occupied the site ate a wider variety of plants than any other people. This, however, does not mean they are using plants in ways nobody else does. Here's an example:

People at site: Ate Foods X, Y, and Z
People at other place: Ate foods X and Y
People at other place: Ate foods Y and Z

Now, we still know that the people at the site ate a "wider variety of wild plants," but they aren't doing anything that nobody else did.

I hate to say it, but LSAC really screwed this one up. I'd tell them, if they ever answered my calls.

-t

P.S. (B) is still probably the best answer, by the way, but this is a terrible, terrible question.


I was just doing my daily studying for the upcoming December test when I came across this question. Originally, I marked out every single answer, but then came back and chose B. While I agree that this isn't one of LSAC's best questions, I don't think its incorrect. Everything you mention above is spot on, at least to my beginner's eyes :lol: But even with all of that, this is a most strongly supported question is it not? As such, the answer does not need to be definitively true.

The issue is obviously with the uncultivated scenario, as you mentioned. But in the example you gave, if we reworked it as:

People at site: Ate Foods X, Y, and Z
People at other place: Ate Foods X and Y
People at other place : Ate Foods X

Then we've actually concluded (through assumption, yes) that they used Z in a way that no other people did at that time. While I completely agree that this is weak I do not believe it is wrong. Because, of the five answer choices, this is the only answer that we can support in one scenario. I think this is actually one of those rare instances where we must consider degrees of "correctness" among the answer choices. We can't say for sure B is always true, but there are examples where it is, unlike the other options, so its more supported.

I might be looking at this in a completely incorrect fashion, as I am definitely not an LSAT expert, but I'm just laying out my thoughts.
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by tommywallach Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:35 pm

Hey Stormexe,

As I said, (B) is the best answer, so it's correct to the extent that you can still pick the "correct" answer by knowing your LSAT skills. I guess what I really mean is that I've seldom (if ever) seen a question where a very straightforward read of the premises would lead one AWAY from the correct answer, for the reason I cited.

But I don't disagree with you that it's still fair, because there's nothing better out there.

-t
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by jewels0602 Sat May 30, 2015 6:13 am

I'm unsure why C is not a valid inference...

(WVP - wide variety of plants
C -- cultivation)

WVP --> ~C

the contrapositive is if cultivated --> ~WVP

Don't we get that from the argument... if the plants are cultivated then the inhabitants of that area had discovered agriculture thousands of years before other known ancestors, and NOT that they ate a wider variety of wild plants because those two options are mutually exclusive (right?)

I'm realllyyy missing something here, someone please help me out :(
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Re: Q9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing

by tommywallach Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:08 am

Hey jewels,

I'm not even sure what "an advanced stage in the use of wild plants" means. We know they ate them, but I'm not sure that would mean they were in some kind of advanced stage. They just ate lots of different stuff.

-t
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