LR Question 23 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Amateur gardeners who plant based on the phases of the…
QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption
CONCLUSION: Amateur gardeners using phases of the moon are less likely to lose crops to frost.
REASONING: Other amateur gardeners often plant in the first warm spell of spring. This leads to problems if there is frost.
ANALYSIS: The argument hasn’t shown that planting according to the phases of the moon avoids early planting and frost problems.
___________
- CORRECT. If this isn’t true, then moon-phase planters will be just as vulnerable to frost.
Negation: Moon-phase planters will plant just as early as those who plant at the first warm spell. - It isn’t necessary that the moon affects frost. It only matters if the phases of the moon let gardeners avoid planting before a frost.
- Different types of plants aren’t the crucial point. Whether or not plants get hit by frost is the key point.
Negation: Farmers who plant according to the phases of the moon use different plants, but these plants are equally vulnerable to frost. - This has no impact on the argument. In fact the negation even seems to strengthen the idea that moon-planting will help, despite our lack of understanding of why it works.
Negation: Amateur gardeners can improve even if they don’t know why their methods work. - So? The argument wasn’t comparing amateur gardeners to professional gardeners.
They could just plant before the spring.. couldn’t they? That’s what my paraphrase was. They don’t necessarily have to plant later than the first warm spell.
I’m not too sure what you mean by they can plant before the spring. I don’t think planting during the winter would be very productive. The stimulus tells us that amateur gardeners plant during the first warm spell, and most of the time, it gets frosty after. The stimulus also tells us that planting based on the phases of the moon bypasses this problem (Ex. If you plant based on phases of the moon, you are less likely to lose plants to frost). So a necessary assumption here would be that that planting by phases of the moon would lead you to plant later in the spring when there would be no frost.