Q21 - Mate is a beverage...

[mshinners]

Question Type:
Strengthen

Stimulus Breakdown:
There are more varieties of mate in P than anywhere else.
Mate is used more in P than anywhere else.
Therefore, P is probably the origin point for mate.

Answer Anticipation:
Who doesn't love a good origin story? I think we have about 15 movie versions now for Spider-Man!

The argument uses the variety and wide usage to conclude something about the origin point of mate. Since the author never establishes that those things are related, the correct answer must connect at least one of them to it.

Correct answer:
(E)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Tempting. ""Rare" isn't impossible, but, then again, our conclusion is only that P is the "likely" point of origin, so "rare" is strong enough to have an impact. However, the issue here is with the second half of the answer - "very long time." While it is likely that mate has been in P for a very long time based on the great variety of types there, that doesn't support a conclusion about it being the point of origin. To get to that conclusion, it needs to be shown that mate has been in P longer than every other place, and "long time" isn't relative enough to help the argument get there.

I absolutely would have left this on my first pass and been torn for a bit between it and (E).

(B) Out of scope. The conclusion is about the reality of its origin point, not what people believe it to be. Also, if anything, their belief suggests it came from elsewhere.

(C) Out of scope. First, what they believe isn't necessarily true. Second, the best mate isn't necessarily from where it was originated.

(D) Out of scope. Modern consumption patterns don't speak to the origin point without other information to connect those ideas. It's possible the place of origin no longer drinks mate.

(E) Tricky, but ultimately correct. I'd be torn between this and (A). This strengthens the argument by connecting the wide usage with length of time. Since mate is most widely used in P, this answer suggests that it's been used the longest there, as well. It differs from (A) in that (A) is absolute ("long time") and this answer is relative ("longer" time). The conclusion itself is secretly relative - to believe something originated in a place, one must believe that it has been used there longer than any other place. The matching of the relativity of the conclusion and this answer ultimately makes it correct over (A).

Takeaway/Pattern:
Strengthening relative conclusions usually involves a relative answer choice; strengthening an absolute conclusion usually involves an absolute answer choice.

Also, if you're stuck between two, compare them to each other to identify how they differ. (A) vs. (E) shows differences in topic (variety vs. wide usage) and in relative vs. absolute. The former is a wash since the stimulus speaks to P being the "best" at both. The answer, then, must come down to relative vs. absolute. The conclusion hides its relativity, but it's there.

#officialexplanation

[ian.irlander]

Can someone please explain why the answer is (E) and not (A)?

Thanks!

[seanchoi106]

Answer choice (A) appears to strengthen the statement "there are more varieties of it found in Paraguay than anywhere else," but if you take another look at that statement, it doesn't say that there are great variety of types, just that there are more. It is possible that there are 2 types in Paraguay and 1 type in rest of the world. So, the stimulus gives a comparative statement but the answer choice is an absolute statement.

Answer choice (E) matches up with the statement "mate is used more widely there than anywhere else" and uses a comparative statement to support that because how widely a beverage is used is related to how long it has been in use, there is some support that the beverage was developed in Paraguay, since it is most widely used in Paraguay.

I think it is a good habit to look at the underlying reasoning structure (conditional, comparative, causation) and make sure that the answer choice lines up with the reasoning structure

[maryadkins]

Fantastic response. Yes! Thank you for sharing your excellent reasoning on this question.

[ganbayou]

but E doesnt say originated, and instead it says used longer....I think longer used and originated are different things, even though sometjing is used for a long time, that doesnt mean it is created there isnt it??

[hanhansummer]

but E doesnt say originated, and instead it says used longer....I think longer used and originated are different things, even though sometjing is used for a long time, that doesnt mean it is created there isnt it??

"Originate" in this context can mean the longest or earliest a beverage has been used in a place. Then, since "mate is used more widely there than anywhere else", and if "the longer a beverage has been used, the more widely it is used there", Paraguay is the place where mate has been used longer than anywhere else, that is the earliest place.

[seychelles1718]

This might be a dumb question but I eliminated E because I thought it was a reverse of what I want. I thoutght E would be correct if it said, "the more widely a beverage is used in a place, the longer the beverage has been in use."

Is this logically the same as what E is actually saying?

[ohthatpatrick]

Yeah, if we say "The more X, the more Y", it works both ways.

consider this set of data points
x = 1, y = 3
x = 2, y = 5
x = 3, y = 7
x = 4, y = 9

Is it fair to say "The more Y, the more X"?

It is.