In their native habit, amaryllis plants go dormant when the soil in wh

Hi

Could someone explain the answer here?

I thought answer is D.

Thanks

This was a fun question .

ANSWER: E

On my first reading I knew it was (E), but I didn't like the "preventing death" part. I went back and eliminated all the other ones, and re-read (E), making sense of the "preventing death" part. My reasoning was as follows:

Amaryllis go dormant during the dry season. It we want amaryllis to thrive as houseplants we should also keep them dormant.

There is a little disconnect here, and thus, to be valid, the argument requires a little more. So where's the gap? We want the amaryllis to thrive indoors, but nowhere in the argument does it say that an outdoor amaryllis, in order to thrive, must go dormant.

We are looking for an answer choice that plugs up this gap.

With that in mind I eliminated as follows:

(A) Most kinds of plants go dormant at some time or other during the year.

Who cares about other plants (I mean question-wise, not in general)

(B) Amaryllis are more difficult keep as houseplants than other kinds of plants are.

Again, who cares about other plants.

(C) Water should be withheld from amaryllis plants kept as houseplants during the exact time of year that corresponds to the dry season in their native habitat.

This may help the amaryllis go dormant (or it may not). It definitely doesn't bridge the gap, i.e., does dormancy allow an amaryllis to thrive.

(D) Any amaryllis plant that fails to thrive is likely to have been dormant for too short a time.

This answer choice shows the importance between dormancy and thriving. However, it does not address the assumption: in order to thrive an amaryllis must first go dormant.

(E) Going dormant benefits amaryllis plants in their native habitat in some way other than simply preventing death during overly dry periods. ANSWER

The key here is connecting going dormant with thriving. This answer suggests that the amaryllis doesn't just go dormant in order to survive. It leaves open the possibility that the amaryllis goes dormant in order to thrive. That is, if you want an amaryllis to thrive--either outdoors or indoors--you have to make it go dormant.

Vote for E

Conclusion
if amaryllis plants kept as houseplants are to thrive, water should be withheld from them during part of the year so that the plants go dormant

Premise
native habit, amaryllis plants go dormant when the soil in which they are growing dries out during the dry season


(A) Most kinds of plants go dormant at some time or other during the year.
--> Out of scope

(B) Amaryllis are more difficult keep as houseplants than other kinds of plants are.
--> Out of scope

(C) Water should be withheld from amaryllis plants kept as houseplants during the exact time of year that corresponds to the dry season in their native habitat.
--> exact time of year--> to extreme

(D) Any amaryllis plant that fails to thrive is likely to have been dormant for too short a time.
--> This weaken the conclusion

(E) Going dormant benefits amaryllis plants in their native habitat in some way other than simply preventing death during overly dry periods.
--> "dormant benefits amaryllis plants" provide additionl premise to support conclusion

In their native habit, amaryllis plants go dormant when the soil in which they are growing dries out during the dry season. Therefore, if amaryllis plants kept as houseplants are to thrive, water should be withheld from them during part of the year so that the plants go dormant.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Here, the author is quite particular about the fact that just to keep Amaryllis in their natural habitat and hence refrain from watering them in that particular dry time of the year.

(A) Most kinds of plants go dormant at some time or other during the year. - Irrelevant to the conclusion made here. Whatever happens to most plants!!
(B) Amaryllis are more difficult keep as houseplants than other kinds of plants are. - Again, this is a far reaching statement which is not proved/discussed in the original assertion.
(C) Water should be withheld from amaryllis plants kept as houseplants during the exact time of year that corresponds to the dry season in their native habitat. -- The exactness of the refrain from watering is not mentioned anywhere in the original statement. This cant be the assumption.
(D) Any amaryllis plant that fails to thrive is likely to have been dormant for too short a time. - This one is quite close. However, what goes against it is that this one is considering an opposite scenario in which the plant has already died due to short dormancy. 1) the period of dormancy is strictly not spoken off , 2) We yet don't know whats happens if the plant doesn't become dormant for long enough time. Rejected!
(E) Going dormant benefits amaryllis plants in their native habitat in some way other than simply preventing death during overly dry periods. - Here, This assumption , though not spoken explicitely, makes quite sense for the argument to hold true. If there is some other benefit that just avoiding the dry season, plants would DEFINITELY need to be kept dry to maintain natural habitat conditions.

can someone kindly explain why c is incorrect please?

Remember, we need to find the assumption that is REQUIRED for the argument to hold. We need to find something that links going dormant with thriving in unnatural habitat.

The argument states that water should be withheld from them during part of the year. Now, do we need to assume (as choice C says) that we need to withhold water from the houseplant during the exact time of year that corresponds to the dry season in their native habitat? Not at all. The argument simply states that we should stop watering it during SOME part of the year (it can be January, March, or December) and therefore answer choice C is not the required assumption for the author's argument to hold. It also doesn't really help us establish a link between going dormant and thriving in unnatrual habitat.

Let me know, if the above makes it more clear.

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