LSAT 116 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Failure to rotate crops depletes the soil’s nutrients gradually…

QUESTION TYPE: Must be True

PARADOX: Absent preventative measures, lack of crop rotation eventually leads to depletion of the soil, meaning no vegetables can be grown without fertilizer. Fertilized soil requires more pesticides, which harm human health.

ANALYSIS: The question stem is unusual; it asks us to imagine a situation where vegetables are grown, and there was no fertilizer.

If we have vegetables without fertilizer, then the soil must not have been depleted. Note that we can’t say for sure that there is crop rotation, as this only leads to depleted soil gradually.

___________

1. Nope. If the soil were depleted, we would have needed fertilizer to grow vegetables. But there is no fertilizer.
2. False. This is quite possible. Crop rotation prevents soil depletion, and allows growth of vegetables without fertilizer.
3. CORRECT. This matches the deduction in bold above.
4. Fertilizer means more pesticides, but they may still be used even without fertilizer.
5. We have no evidence for that. The vegetables could be safer or more dangerous, depending on many factors.

Recap: The question begins with “Failure to rotate crops depletes the soil’s nutrients gradually”. It is a Must be True question. Learn how to master LSAT MBT questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.