Q1 - Backyard gardeners who want to

[Laura Damone]

What does the Question Stem tell us?
"logically completes the argument" means fill in the blank. Check what language introduces the blank to figure out which piece of the argument our answer choice needs to be. In this case, the word "because" introduces the blank so we know the correct answer should be a premise that makes this a logical argument.

Break down the Stimulus:
1st line is a prescription of action: "gardeners should plant nettles by potatoes." That is followed by support: "nettles attract bugs that hurt potato pests." Then we have a weirdness: nettles attract aphids and many aphids harm potato plants. However, that is followed by a turnaround word "but," indicating that what came before is an opposing point that needs to be mitigated by the premise that will fill in the blank.

Any prephrase?
many species of aphids are harmful to potato plants, but not all. Perhaps the nettle-loving aphids aren't into potatos.

Correct answer:
C

Answer choice analysis:
A) Ease of implementation may support the prescription, but it doesn't mitgate the opposing point.

B) Not damaging the nettles is nice, but what we really want is to ensure no damage to the potatoes.

C) Correct! This mitigates the opposing point, showing the nettle-loving aphids to be of no threat.

D) This comparison is suspect! It doesn't make insect damage insignificant and therefore doesn't mitigate the opposing point.

E) Another suspect comparison that doesn't address the opposing point.

Takeaway/Pattern: Look for indicator words by the blank to figure out what role in the argument the right answer must serve, and beware the irrelevant comparison answers!

#officialexplanation

[jennifer]

1. I answered this correctly, but it took me longer then most question1 LR questions. I was wondering if it was just me or this is a new evil LSAC mind pop?

2. Is the determining answer in finding the correct answer damage vs. harm.

3. Also this prep test seemed super wordy in the LR sections, the questions seemed easier than earlier tests, but the stimulus seemed tougher and not as clear as previous tests? Can anyone speak to this or is it just me? Be honest, I can handle it.

[ohthatpatrick]

1 - I agree with you that this is atypically challenging/time-consuming for a #1. I don't think that the answer itself is too hard to come by, but I had to read the stimulus a couple times because the terms/ideas just didn't stick with me easily on my first read-through.

2 - I wouldn't say that "damage" vs. "harm" is a crucial component of the correct vs. incorrect answers. First of all, I think "damage" and "harm" would be used pretty much interchangeably on this test.

The way I got the answer was thinking about what kind of idea I need in the blank:

Conc: If you wanna grow more potatoes, grow stinging nettles nearby.
why?
Prem: Stinging nettles attract insects that kill potato-damaging insects.
but what about?
Counterpremise: Stinging nettles attract aphids, and many aphids harm potato plants.

Say what??? Why is this author saying that stinging nettles are good for growing potato plants, if stinging nettles attract aphids and many aphids harm potato plants?

The author says that this counterpremise doesn't contradict his conclusion, because _____

I need the correct answer to resolve this confusion.

(C) does that very directly. Oh, I don't have to worry about these aphids hurting my precious potatoes.

(A) we don't care about whether stinging nettles are easy to grow -- want to know whether our potatoes will be damaged by aphids.

(B) we don't care whether the stinging nettles are damaged --- we care whether are potatoes our damaged.

D) we don't care about other organisms -- we want to know why the author would feel okay about planting something near our potatoes that potentially attracts potato-harming aphids

E) we don't care about whether aphids are MORE harmful to other plants --- we want to know why the author is okay with aphids potentially coming and harming our potato plants.

In terms of your 3rd question, I haven't actually done this test yet in its entirety. In looking through the two LR sections, though, I definitely agree that the stimuli look a lot beefier than usual.

As you suggested, maybe LSAC decided to trade-off complexity of stimulus for complexity of answer choice. I have done test 64, and I didn't think the LR in it was especially dense. So we can't assume that test 63 is "the new normal".

Let me know if you have any more questions.

[Youngstar2028]

The key here is quickly recognizing the word MANY.
It is stated that "many species of aphids are harmful to potato plants, but that fact in no way contradicts this recommendation....."

From this, you should know that there are at least some aphids that do not harm potato plants. Once you recognize that, the answer becomes obvious and there is, infact, no contradiction.