Any machine that could be used to keep fields free of weeds without

Question

Any machine that could be used to keep fields free of weeds without manual weeding or the use of herbicides would have a large market among farmers. A company has developed a prototype weeding machine that distinguishes between plants on the basis of their color and can remove any plant that falls outside a predetermined color range. The company is presently considering whether to go ahead with full-scale production of this weeding machine.

Which of the following, if true, is the strongest consideration in favor of the company’s going into full-scale production?

A. There is a considerable degree of variation in color among weeds of different species.

B. For many crops, weeds pose a greater threat to high yields than insect pests do.

C. When crops are weeded manually, color is often a major factor in distinguishing agricultural plants from weeds.

D. Selection and genetic manipulation allow nearly all agricultural plants to be economically bred to have a distinctive shade of color without altering their other characteristics.

E. The last time the company decided to go ahead with full-scale production of a machine for which they had developed a prototype, the venture proved far more profitable than the company had anticipated.

MartyMurray · Answer

Any machine that could be used to keep fields free of weeds without manual weeding or the use of herbicides would have a large market among farmers. A company has developed a prototype weeding machine that distinguishes between plants on the basis of their color and can remove any plant that falls outside a predetermined color range. The company is presently considering whether to go ahead with full-scale production of this weeding machine.

The plan involves separating crops from weeds by color.

Which of the following, if true, is the strongest consideration in favor of the company’s going into full-scale production?

The correct answer to this Strengthen question will provide a reason why the company's going into full-scale production makes sense.

A. There is a considerable degree of variation in color among weeds of different species.

If anything this choice weakens the case for producing the machine.

After all, the passage says that the machine works by removing "any plant that falls outside a predetermined color range."

So, if there is a considerable degree of variation in color among weeds of different species, then it's likely that the colors of some weeds fall within the range such that the machine doesn't remove the plants.

So, if anything, this choice indicates that the machine may not be effective.

Eliminate.

B. For many crops, weeds pose a greater threat to high yields than insect pests do.

The passage has already stated that "Any machine that could be used to keep fields free of weeds without manual weeding or the use of herbicides would have a large market among farmers."

So, this comparison between weeds and insect pests doesn't strengthen the case for going into full-scale production since confirmation that weed control is valuable isn't needed. It's already clear that farmers would want such a machine, if it works.

Eliminate.

C. When crops are weeded manually, color is often a major factor in distinguishing agricultural plants from weeds.

This choice is seems arguably correct because it indicates that weeds can be distinguished from agricultural plants by color.

At the same time, this choice is not as good as (D) for the following reasons.

The passage says that the machine works by removing "any plant that falls outside a predetermined color range."

So, the machine is not super sophisticated, noting any types of differences in color. Rather, it just removes anything outside a range.

So, even if weeds can be distinguished from agricultural plants by color, that fact doesn't mean that the machine will work. After all, to work, it needs agricultural plants to in general fall within a certain range of color and weeds not to fall within that range so that it can tell the difference. This choice doesn't indicate that weeds and agricultural plants fall into two such categories.

Also, this choice says that color is "often a major factor" in distinguishing agricultural plants from weeds, meaning that people also consider other factors, which the machine cannot consider.

Thus, this choice, which indicates only that color can be helpful in determining which plants are weeds, isn't a great reason to produce the machine

That said, I think this choice is not ideal because it's too close to correct. So, this question is gettable but might be better without this answer choice.

Eliminate.

D. Selection and genetic manipulation allow nearly all agricultural plants to be economically bred to have a distinctive shade of color without altering their 
other characteristics.

This choice is interesting.

As noted above in the explanation for (C), the the machine is not super sophisticated, noting any types of differences in color. Rather, it just removes anything outside a range.

Now, this choice indicates that it's possible for agricultural plants to be economically bred to have a distinctive shade of color, meaning that they likely can be bred to have color within a particular range.

In that case, use of the machine will likely be practical since, if the colors of agricultural plants can be caused to fall within a certain range, then the machine will be able to tell agricultural plants from weeds.

So, this choice provides a reason to believe that the machine will work and that, therefore, it makes sense for the company to produce it.

Keep.

E. The last time the company decided to go ahead with full-scale production of a machine for which they had developed a prototype, the venture proved far more profitable than the company had anticipated.

The fact that production of a different machine was profitable doesn't mean that production of this one will be.

Eliminate.

Correct answer:   D

guddo · Answer

Any machine that could be used to keep fields free of weeds without manual weeding or the use of herbicides would have a large market among farmers. A company has developed a prototype weeding machine that distinguishes between plants on the basis of their color and can remove any plant that falls outside a predetermined color range. The company is presently considering whether to go ahead with full-scale production of this weeding machine.
 
 Which of the following, if true, is the strongest consideration in favor of the company’s going into full-scale production?

The machine will be valuable only if it can reliably distinguish crops from weeds by color.  The strongest support  would show that crops can be made visually distinct enough for the machine to remove weeds without harming the crop.

A. There is a considerable degree of variation in color among weeds of different species.

This does not help much. If weeds vary widely in color, the machine may have difficulty removing all weeds while preserving the crop.

B. For many crops, weeds pose a greater threat to high yields than insect pests do.

This shows that weeds are a serious problem, but it does not show that this color-based machine can solve that problem.

C. When crops are weeded manually, color is often a major factor in distinguishing agricultural plants from weeds.

This gives some support, but it is limited. Human weeders may use color along with other clues, while the machine uses only color.

D. Selection and genetic manipulation allow nearly all agricultural plants to be economically bred to have a distinctive shade of color without altering their other characteristics.

This is correct. If crops can be bred to have a distinctive color, then the machine can be set to preserve crops within that color range and remove plants outside it. That strongly supports full-scale production because it makes the machine broadly usable.

E. The last time the company decided to go ahead with full-scale production of a machine for which they had developed a prototype, the venture proved far more profitable than the company had anticipated.

This is irrelevant. A previous successful product does not show that this specific weeding machine will work or have a large market.

Answer: (D)

AshishK0721 · Answer

Hello experts, I understand why D is correct but i am unable to figure out the right reason to eliminate C here. If colour can be used to distinguish weeds and plants, doesnt this strengthen?

guddo · Answer

I'd say, C does strengthen a little, but it is too weak.

C says color is often a major factor for human weeders. But human weeders can also use shape, location, size, and judgment. The machine, however, uses only a predetermined color range.

So  C does not show that color alone is reliable enough  for the machine to remove weeds without removing crops. D is stronger because it says crops can be bred to have a distinctive color, which makes the machine  broadly and practically usable .

MartyMurray · Answer

It does slightly strengthen the argument. So, the move is to get this question correct by choosing (D) over (C) despite the fact that (C) arguably provides some reason to believe that the machine will work. I've added detail on how to do so to my explanation above.

kitkat4620 · Answer

MartyMurray 
In D, aren't we inherently assuming that crops generally will be genetically manipulated?
It says that selection and genetic manipulation allows for plants to have distinct colors. But how do we know whether the crops are actually genetically manipulated?
And even if they were, even if there was distinctive color unless it is pre-determined how can the machine work? We can rule this out the same way we rule out option C.

chetan2u · Answer

48% have marked C compared to 41% who have marked D as the answer.

Reason C loses to D....

C. When crops are weeded manually, color is often a major factor in distinguishing agricultural plants from weeds.

So, in a field where the weeds are in a different colour from the crops, manual weeders will just concentrate on colour. But in case both weeds and crops are of same colour, surely manual weeding would make use of other characteristics such as size, shape, type of leaves etc. However, the machine will not have the same advantage, and will most likely be inefficient.

The above tells us that although the machine would be using a factor most widely used in manual weeding, the machine will have limitations where the colour difference does not exist.

D. Selection and genetic manipulation allow nearly all agricultural plants to be economically bred to have a distinctive shade of color without altering their 
other characteristics.

In case the colour of crops can be altered, it could be easily ensured the crop is of a different colour than the existing weeds in that region. And in such a scenario, the machines would be in the best position to be used optimally and most efficiently.

MartyMurray · Answer

The point of (D) is that crops CAN be economically bred to have "distinctive" colors.

What that means is basically that it's likely that farmers have an economical, and therefore practical, way to use the machine successfully. After all, if they can cause their crops to have "distinctive" colors, then it's likely that the machine will be able to distinguish crops from weeds.

Also, if the crops are "bred" to have distinctive colors, then to an extent, those colors will indeed be predetermined.

And here's the thing.

A strengthener doesn't have to prove the conclusion correct. I just has to provide an additional reason to believe the conclusion to be true.

In this case, (D) doesn't necessarily mean that farmers will breed crops to have distinctive colors, but the fact that they could do so is an additional reason to believe that the machine will work for farmers. After all, it's reasonable to expect farmers to do things, such as breed plants in a certain way, that will benefit them.

PS3008 · Answer

okay, so here we have two options that are extremely close and we have to use elimination to narrow down to one option.
 
In Option C because of the line " color  is often a  " makes all the difference. as it tells that the color is not the only option manual process have to distinguish b/w crop and weed plant. But from the premise we know that the machine distinguish on the basis of color range (only).

While Option D definitely brings some out of context info about the "selection and genetic manipulation" but is in line with context. How you may ask?
As it tells that these methods allow agricultural plants to have a distinctive shade of color and as that is making it certain that the difference will exist in the color range of agricultural plants and weed plants, the machine can work perfectly.

Hence Option D fits here properly without leaving any doubts on itself as Option C does.

Any machine that could be used to keep fields free of weeds without

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Any machine that could be used to keep fields free of weeds without

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