Farmers in Australia have begun spraying their wheat fields with

Question

Farmers in Australia have begun spraying their wheat fields with wheat germ oil after planting seeds. Even though mice are attracted to the scent of wheat, which wheat germ oil emits, the farmers believe that, by spraying their fields with wheat germ oil, they will reduce the number of planted wheat seeds taken by mice.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to believe that the farmers’ strategy will work?

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to believe that the farmers’ strategy will work?

(A) A by-product of the wheat milling process, wheat germ oil is relatively inexpensive.

(B) Mice cannot get any significant nutrition from wheat germ oil sprayed on fields.

(C) The population of mice in Australia has increased to record size in recent years.

(D) Mice locate planted seeds to take from farmer’s fields by using their sense of smell.

(E) Spraying wheat germ oil on newly planted fields does not negatively affect the growth of wheat plants.

Source:  Marty Murray Coaching

MartyMurray · Answer

Farmers in Australia have begun spraying their wheat fields with wheat germ oil after planting seeds. Even though mice are attracted to the scent of wheat, which wheat germ oil emits, the farmers believe that, by spraying their fields with wheat germ oil, they will reduce the number of planted wheat seeds taken by mice.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to believe that the farmers’ strategy will work?

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to believe that the farmers’ strategy will work?

This is a Strengthen Plan question.

The plan is the following:

spraying their wheat fields with wheat germ oil after planting seeds

The goal of the plan is the following:

reduce the number of planted wheat seeds taken by mice

As is common in Plan questions, the passage does not provide a reason to believe the plan will work.

In fact, in this case, the passage presents a reason to wonder how the plan can work:

mice are attracted to the scent of wheat, which wheat germ oil emits

So, the correct answer will provide support for the conclusion that the plan will work even though mice are attracted to the scent of wheat, which wheat germ oil emits.

(A) A by-product of the wheat milling process, wheat germ oil is relatively inexpensive.

This choice provides support for the wrong conclusion.

It supports a conclusion along the lines of that the plan is practical in financial terms.

Since the fact that wheat germ oil is inexpensive doesn't mean that spraying fields with it will serve to reduce the number of seeds taken by mice, this choice doesn't do what we need.

Eliminate.

(B) Mice cannot get any significant nutrition from wheat germ oil sprayed on fields.

The fact that mice cannot get significant nutrition from wheat germ oil doesn't indicate that spraying fields with it will prevent mice from taking wheat seeds to get nutrition.

Eliminate.

(C) The population of mice in Australia has increased to record size in recent years.

If anything, what this choice mentions works against the success of the plan.

The fact that the population of mice has increased to record size is certainly not a reason to believe that a plan to reduce the number of seeds taken by mice will work.

Eliminate.

(D) Mice locate planted seeds to take from farmer’s fields by using their sense of smell.

This choice is interesting.

After all, if mice locate planted seeds to take from farmer’s fields by using their sense of smell, then, if entire fields are sprayed with wheat germ oil, which emits the scent of wheat, mice may have trouble locating planted seeds. After all, in that case, not only the seeds but everything around them will smell like wheat.

So, this choice provides reason to believe that the plan will work.

Keep.

(E) Spraying wheat germ oil on newly planted fields does not negatively affect the growth of wheat plants.

This choice supports the wrong conclusion.

It supports a conclusion along the lines of that spraying fields with wheat germ oil won't negatively affect crop production.

Since that fact that spraying fields with wheat germ oil does not negatively affect growth of plants does not mean that it will serve to reduce the number of seeds taken by mice, this choice doesn't do what we need.

Eliminate.

Correct answer:   D

Nilay12 · Answer

But the passage mentions "wheat fields" and not "farmer's fields", how can we assume there are other plants being planted?
Very poorly worded passage if so.

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Hi  Nilay12  I dont find any flaw in the argument.

Lets look at the argument

Farmers in Australia have begun  spraying their wheat fields  with  wheat germ oil after planting seeds . Why the farmers of wheat field are spraying wheat germ oil, there might be something going on in farmer's wheat field right? Lets read ahead

Even though mice are attracted to the scent of wheat,which wheat germ oil emits,-- Hmm OK so mice are affecting wheat seeds because they are attracted to scent of wheat and these scent is same for wheat germ oil, but again why the spraying, read ahead

which wheat germ oil emits, the farmers believe that, by spraying their fields with wheat germ oil, they will reduce the number of planted wheat seeds taken by mice.-- Ahh here it is, they are spraying to save the wheat seeds that was planted, because mice are attracted to wheat scent, since they are attracted and they were taking those seeds with them, that means they use there sense of smell to locate, and if wheat germ oil has same same scent, then they will be confused and hence they will not find where the actual seed is planted. This same gap is covered by option D (Mice locate planted seeds to take from farmer’s fields by using their sense of smell.) because if this sentence will be negated then there is no point in spraying, Mice might be locating wheat seeds through something else.

Nilay12

egmat · Answer

Hi Nilay12,

I can see why "farmer's fields" caught your eye, but it isn't introducing any new crops. It's just a general, plain-English way of saying  the fields where the farmers planted  - which, in this passage, are the wheat fields. The choice isn't claiming there are other plants growing there.

Here's the key:  choice D is a general statement about how mice behave -  they locate planted seeds by smell.  It applies to any field with planted seeds, including the wheat fields in our stimulus. So when you read it against this argument, just map "farmer's fields" onto "the wheat fields the farmers sprayed." Nothing about other plants needs to be assumed.

Why this matters for the logic: the farmers' worry is that the oil smells like wheat and could  attract  mice. D resolves that worry - if mice find seeds by  smell , then soaking the entire field in the wheat scent means the seeds no longer smell different from everything around them. The mice can't pinpoint the actual seeds, so fewer get taken. The wording "farmer's fields" vs. "wheat fields" plays no role in that mechanism.

A quick way to test whether a wording difference actually matters:  ask,  does swapping the phrase change what the choice does to the argument?  Try it here:
- "Mice locate planted seeds in  wheat fields  by smell."
- "Mice locate planted seeds in  farmer's fields  by smell."

Both give you the exact same support - mice rely on smell, so masking the scent defeats them. Since the logic is identical either way, the phrase isn't smuggling in any assumption. The passage isn't poorly worded; "farmer's fields" is simply a looser synonym for the same fields.

Answer: D

Nilay12 · Answer

I agree with you that if the sentence is negated then there will be no point in spraying, however the passage mentioning spraying the "wheat field" is what I am taking problem with.
It also might be my frustration since I was trying for streaks and got this Q wrong at my later end of a possible streak, however getting a thorough passage is so tough since it can be interpreted in so many ways.

But thanks for your reply!

Nilay12 · Answer

Great point and thanks for your reply.
However, when you say "the seeds no longer smell different from everything around them", what do you mean by "everything around them" over here. What other things might be there in a wheat field apart from wheat plants where the farmers will spray which will attract the mice. Do you mean to say soil, or other parts of the field, and since mice actually get track only by smell and not sight (assumption), they won't try to look at the patterns in which the plants are growing in the field (generally their is a pattern in which seeds are planted), and instead be distracted by the smell all around the field?

MartyMurray · Answer

Hi Nilay, here's the thing.

The fact that mice use their sense of smell to locate seeds of any type means that spraying wheat fields with something that smells like wheat will make it difficult for mice to locate wheat seeds in those fields because things other than the seeds will smell like wheat. This increase in difficulty will occur regardless whether mice could also look for patterns or use any other means of finding seeds because they will no longer have the ability to use their sense of smell to find seeds.

So, what (D) says is a reason to believe that the plan will work even if other variables are at play.

To maintain your CR streaks going forward, be careful to note the net effects of key variables and not get distracted by possibilities that don't change the effects of those key variables.

In this case, the difference in wording between "wheat fields" and "farmers' fields" and the possibility that mice could perhaps use other means to find seeds don't change the fact that spraying wheat fields with wheat germ oil will create a situation such that mice will no longer be able to locate wheat seeds using their sense of smell, and thus will likely cause a reduction in the number of wheat seeds eaten by mice.

Nilay12 · Answer

Thanks Marty for your reply.

Will also take care on your recommendation for streaks and where to actually focus on.

MartyMurray · Answer

Sounds good, Nilay.

This video could help you lock in a reliable approach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOKU2kHN4uw

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