LSAT 145 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q11

LR Question 11 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Farmers who use genetically engineered plants on…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: Farmers are making a poor decision if they grow genetically engineered crops.

REASONING: There’s a risk that a study could undermine consumer confidence in GMOs. GMOs don’t have a high enough price to compensate for this risk.

ANALYSIS: Normally I think “identify the conclusion” questions are quite easy, but I found this harder than average. At first, I thought the opening sentence was the conclusion.

It’s not. The second sentence is the conclusion: it’s unwise to grow GMOs. The evidence is that a new study could destroy the market for GMOs. To compensate, GMOs should pay higher prices. But they don’t, so farmers face a major risk with no compensation.

To identify the conclusion, always ask yourself if a sentence supports other sentences, or receives support. The second sentence supports no other sentence, and receives support from the others.

___________

1. This is evidence that growing GMOs is unwise.
2. CORRECT. See the analysis above. The financial risk of GMOs means that it’s unwise to grow them.
3. This is evidence that therefore it’s unwise to grow genetically engineered crops.
4. This is evidence that there’s financial risk. In turn, that’s evidence that it’s unwise to grow GMOs.
5. This is evidence. Consumers’ low confidence helps show that there’s financial risk, which makes it unwise to grow GMOs.