harishbiyani8888 wrote:
Last year a global disturbance of weather patterns disrupted harvests in many of the world's important agricultural areas. Worldwide production of soybeans, an important source of protein for people and livestock alike, was not adversely affected, however. Indeed, last year's soybean crop was actually slightly larger than average. Nevertheless, the weather phenomenon is probably responsible for a recent increase in the world price of soybeans.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest justification for the attribution of the increase in soybean prices to the weather phenomenon?
(A) Last year's harvest of anchovies, which provide an important protein source for livestock, was disrupted by the effects of the weather phenomenon.
(B) Most countries that produce soybeans for export had above-average harvests of a number of food crops other than soybeans last year.
(C) The world price of soybeans also rose several years ago, immediately after an earlier occurrence of similar global weather disturbance.
(D) Heavy rains attributable to the weather phenomenon improved grazing pastures last year, allowing farmers in many parts of the world to reduce their dependence on supplemental feed.
(E) Prior to last year, soybean prices had been falling for several years.
Resolve the Paradox Question Review
Each Resolve the Paradox stimulus presents a situation where two ideas or occurrences contradict each other.
Besides the discrepant or contradictory facts, most Resolve the Paradox stimuli contain the following features:
1. No conclusion
2. Language of contradiction
The correct answer will actively resolve the paradox—it will allow both sides to be factually correct and it will either explain how the situation came into being or add a piece of information that shows how the two ideas or occurrences can coexist.
Because you are not seeking to disprove one side of the situation, you must select the answer choice that contains a possible cause of the situation. So, when examining answers, ask yourself if the answer choice could lead to the situation in the stimulus. If so, the answer is correct. The following types of answers are incorrect:
1. Explains only one side of the paradox
If an answer supports or proves only one side of the paradox, that answer will be incorrect. The correct answer must show how both sides coexist.
2. Similarities and differences
If the stimulus contains a paradox where two items are similar, then an answer choice that explains a difference between the two cannot be correct.
Conversely, if the stimulus contains a paradox where two items are different, then an answer choice that explains why the two are similar cannot be correct.
In short, a similarity cannot explain a difference, and a difference cannot explain a similarity.
When attempting to resolve the problem in the stimulus, you must address the facts of the situation. Many answers will try to lure you with reasonable solutions that do not quite meet the stated facts. These answers are incorrect.
Soybean PricesStep 1: Identify the QuestionThe wording
provides the strongest justification for in the question stem indicates that this is either a
Strengthen the Argument or an
Explain the Discrepancy problem. Read the entire argument to determine which it is.
Step 2: Deconstruct the ArgumentLast yr: weather → bad harvests
BUT: soybean harvest = larger than avg
BUT: soybean prices ↑
© bad weather → soybean prices ↑
This is an
Explain the Discrepancy problem, since it describes a surprising phenomenon that runs counter to what is expected. Bad weather last year affected most crops, but the soybean harvest was actually slightly larger than usual. You would expect, therefore, that soybean prices would be unaffected or decrease. Surprisingly, even though the soybean harvest itself was not diminished, the price of soybeans did increase.
Step 3: Pause and State the GoalIn a Discrepancy problem, the right answer will explain why the surprising phenomenon occurred. In this case, the right answer will explain why high soybean prices can be blamed on bad weather.
Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right(A) CORRECT. The argument describes soybeans as an important source of protein for people and livestock alike. According to this answer choice,
anchovies are
another important protein source, and
the weather caused a disruption in the anchovy harvest. Since soybeans fill the same role as anchovies,
unavailability of anchovies could have caused higher demand for soybeans, which in turn could have
driven up the price of soybeans.
(B) This answer choice implies that the soybean harvest was good last year because the countries that produce soybeans had good harvests in general. However, the question asks you specifically to justify the attribution of the increase in soybean prices to the weather phenomenon. The right answer doesn’t need to show why the soybean harvest was good. It only needs to show why the weather was to blame for increased soybean prices.
(C) Without more information on the similarities between the previous situation and the current situation, there’s no way to know whether this justifies blaming the soybean prices on the recent weather disturbance. It’s possible that the two weather disturbances were similar, and the two changes in price happened for the same reason. However, it’s equally possible that the weather disturbances were very different, or that the previous weather disturbance didn’t actually cause the previous increase in prices.
(D) This would be more likely to cause a decrease in soybean prices than an increase. If farmers needed less supplemental livestock feed, they would be less likely to purchase soybeans, and the price might decrease.
(E) This answer choice actually suggests that something other than bad weather was to blame for the increase in prices. If soybean prices were abnormally low prior to the weather disturbance, it’s reasonable to conclude that they increased as part of a normal return to baseline, and that the increase had nothing to do with the weather.
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Updated on: 02 Aug 2018, 06:24
35%
(medium)
28%
(02:15)
wrong 
(Note: I have not actually won the lottery twice, but if you have any winning tickets laying around, I'll send you my mailing address.) 
All doubts are legitimate.
