Q10 - Many species of plants produce

[smiller]

Question Type:
Strengthen

Stimulus Breakdown:
Premises:
1. Many plants produce EFNs.
2. EFNs attract ants that defend the plants against leaf-eating insects.
3. Jumping spiders jump onto plants that produce EFNs more often than they jump onto other plants.

Conclusion:
Jumping spiders also defend the plants against leaf-eating insects.

Answer Anticipation:
The premises describe one similarity between the ants and spiders: they are both apparently attracted to plants that produce EFNs. On the basis of this similarity, the argument concludes that the ants and spiders share another similarity: the spiders also defend the plants from harmful insects. We're looking for an answer that strengthens this "similar in one way, therefore similar in another way" reasoning.

Correct answer:
B

Answer choice analysis:
(A) This indicates that the plants benefit when they are protected from leaf-eating insects. It doesn't strengthen the idea that the spiders are the ones protecting the plants.

(B) This doesn't prove that the spiders defend the plants from leaf-eating insects, but it supports the idea that the plants somehow benefit from the spiders' presence. We would want to defer judgement on this answer until we check the others. Once we see the issues with all of the other answers, it becomes apparent that this one does the most to strengthen the argument.

(C) We don't know that the jumping spider is the "outside agent" mentioned in this answer. The "outside agent" could be the ants.

(D) The fact that other spiders do not defend EFN-producing plants does not support the claim that jumping spiders do defend the plants. If this answer is even relevant, it would slightly weaken the argument.

(E) This might support the idea that the plants benefit from the presence of the ants, but we're already explicitly told that the ants defend the plants. More evidence to support the idea that the ants benefit the plants doesn't strengthen the argument.

Takeaway/Pattern:
As with many challenging LR questions, the correct answer to this question might not match what we expect to see in a correct answer. This is why a strong wrong-to-right process is so important. Identifying and confidently eliminating four wrong answers will leave us with the correct answer. If all of the others are clearly wrong, an answer that only strengthens the argument by a small amount still strengthens and becomes the best choice.

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