LR Question 16 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: It is possible to grow agricultural crops that can…
QUESTION TYPE: Role in Argument
CONCLUSION: Seawater irrigated farming would be cheaper than most other irrigated agriculture
REASONING: The largest cost in irrigation is the pumping distance of the water. Seawater wouldn’t have to be pumped far. Some agriculture crops can grow with seawater.
ANALYSIS: The question is asking why the author mentions the low cost of pumping seawater.
Well, the conclusion is that seawater irrigation is cheap. The fact that pumping is the greatest cost supports that conclusion, when combined with the fact that seawater isn’t expensive to pump.
Don’t make questions more complicated than they are. This one is as simple as that.
___________
- Ridiculous. The argument doesn’t disprove any claims!
Example of argument: Some people say that pumping seawater is cheap. But actually that’s only in the short term. In the long run seawater corrodes pipes, leading to very high piping costs. - Nonsense. The author isn’t arguing against any hypothesis.
Example of argument: I believe that Jenkins committed the robbery. Some say he was out of the country at the time. This would, if true, undermine my hypothesis. But I know for a fact that Jenkins has no passport, so this alibi must be false. - CORRECT. Simple as that. The importance of pumping + the low cost of pumping seawater supports the idea that seawater irrigation is cheap.
- No, the conclusion is that seawater irrigation is cheap. The importance of pumping + the low cost of pumping seawater supports that.
- The author does not provide any evidence that the greatest expense in irrigation is pumping water.
More Resources for Role in Argument Questions
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Role in Argument questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers role in argument questions.
For answer choice E, do you have an example of how it would be reframed as the right answer? Would “evidence” refer to some sort of study, for example?
Hi Krista, correct! For E to be the right answer, the sentence would have to sound something like “As expense reports from agricultural farms have shown, the greatest expense in irrigated agriculture …”. Since this is not the case here, we cannot correctly state that it is a claim for which the argument provides evidence. Let me know if you have further questions!