Dried parsley should never be used in cooking, for it is far less

Question

Dried parsley should never be used in cooking, for it is far less tasty and healthful than fresh parsley is.

Which one of following principles, if valid, most clearly helps to justify the argument above?

(A) Fresh ingredients should be used in cooking whenever possible

(B) Only the tastiest ingredients should ever be used in cooking

(C) Ingredients that should never be used in cooking are generally neither tasty nor helpful

(D) Parsley that is not both tasty and healthful should never be used in cooking

(E) In cooking, dried ingredients are inferior to fresh ingredients

SageJiraiya · Accepted Answer

Dried parsley should  never  be used in cooking, for  it is far less tasty and healthful than fresh parsley is .

The question stem says that we should   never   use dried parsley. The reasoning behind this is that there is an alternate (fresh parsley) available which is far more tasty and healthy than dried parsley.

So, since there is a healthier and tastier alternative available, we should not opt for dried parsley.
To justify the argument, we need a statement saying that we should always use the healthiest or tastiest option available to us.

Lets examine the options :-

(A) Fresh ingredients should be used in cooking whenever possible 
This options leaves the room for dried parsley to be used. If you don't have fresh parsley, you could use the dried one as only when possible should you choose the fresh ingredients. Hence it can't justify the stem.

(B) Only the tastiest ingredients should ever be used in cooking 
This is the correct answer. It abolishes the use of ingredients unless they are the tastiest ones. We don't know that fresh parsley is the tastiest one, but we do know that dried parsley isn't. So no matter what the case, you should never use dried parsley.

(C) Ingredients that should never be used in cooking are generally neither tasty nor helpful 
It is not stated that dried parsley isn't tasty or healthy. All we do know, is that the fresh one is tastier and healthier. Can't justify our stem.

(D) Parsley that is not both tasty and healthful should never be used in cooking 
Again, as in C, we can not say that dried parsley isn't tasty or healthy. Even if this were true, we need to establish that dried parsley is neither healthy nor tasty, which is not possible with the information given in the stem. Hence, can't justify our stem.

(E) In cooking, dried ingredients are inferior to fresh ingredients 
No where has it been stated that you can't use inferior ingredients. Reject.

Pratheek95 · Answer

Could someone give an explanation as to why D cant be the answer

800Dreamer · Answer

Hi,
what if that is not healthy ? Don't we require both tasty and healthy?

SageJiraiya · Answer

Hi
We don't have to establish the usage of fresh parsley.

Let me explain it with another example which should be easier to visualize.

Jaguar should never be used in a race because Ferrari is faster and more fuel efficient than jaguar.

Now, we're not saying that we should use Ferrari for the race. Maybe there are other cars which are better suited for a race.
Let's say Lamborghini is the fastest car around.
We don't really know.

All we do know is that jaguar isn't the fastest or the most fuel efficient because atleast 1 car (in this case Ferrari) exists which is faster and more fuel efficient that it.

Now, we need to justify that jaguar should never be used.
We know there are two features - speed and fuel efficiency.

If the cars which should be used need to be the best in either of two features, we can safely say that jaguar can't be used.
So it doesn't matter which category we pick.
Jaguar is neither the fastest, nor the most fuel efficient.

If we need to use the fastest cars only, jaguar can't be picked.
If we need to use the most fuel efficienct cars, jaguar can't be picked.

Similarly
It is given that fresh parsley is both tastier and healthier than dried parsley.
Because of these reasons, we should not use dried parsley.

If we're told that it's necessary to pick either the tastiest or the healthiest ingredient, dried parsley could be ruled out.
Hence (B).

Posted from my mobile device

Jela · Answer

Option B only focuses on the quality of tastiness of vegetables to be used in cooking . But the passage we are analyzing focuses on the taste and healthful quality of dried parsley. I strongly believe option D should be the right answer, rather than B.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

SageJiraiya · Answer

D is definitely tempting. I guess the only problem with D is that it talks in absolutes while the question stem has talked only in relatives.
In other words, we can't say that dried parsley is tasty or not, as we're not privy to that info.

An example on the same line: -
We shouldn't let Mark pay the bills because Mark is neither richer than Jeff nor smarter than him.
Now, we absolutely can't say that Mark is poor or not smart. He can be a billionaire. All we do know is that Jeff is richer and smarter than him.

This is why B is a better option here.

Hope this helps!

Jela · Answer

Well, I still stand by view. 
Thanks for the explanation, anyway.

Posted from my mobile device

unraveled · Answer

Dried parsley should never be used in cooking, for it is far less tasty and healthful than fresh parsley is.

Which one of following principles, if valid, most clearly helps to justify the argument above?

The passage gives a relative comparison between fresh and dried parsley, and says dried should  never  be used in cooking for the reason that fresh parsley is better - tastier and healthful.

(A) Fresh ingredients should be used in cooking whenever  possible  - The word 'possible' leaves an open window which ruins the choice.

(B)  Only  the  tastiest  ingredients should ever be used in cooking - 'Only' leaves an impression that only one factor(in this case 'tastiest') can't fulfill the requirement. Additionally, we were given specific example of parsley. So, how come superlative degree is used and that too with a strong word like 'only'. It creates a doubt that B can't be answer.

(C) Ingredients that should never be used in cooking are  generally neither  tasty nor helpful - Just like B this one makes a big claim using the highlighted words.

(D) Parsley that is not  both  tasty and healthful should never be used in cooking - It's as sweet as it can be to be the correct answer. However, i eliminated it for the reverse logic reasoning. If the statement is true going forward, then it might be possible that it may not be true in the backwards direction. I know this sounds fluke since i was not that confident eliminating it.

(E) In cooking, dried ingredients are  inferior  to fresh ingredients - I don't know how this is wrong. I can accept it to be wrong if inferior doesn't mean not being tasty and healthful. But the way inferior is used - that fresh parsley is tatier and healthful than dried ones - dried parsley looks inferior.

For most of the time and highlighted text i was oscillating between D and E.

Can anyone elaborate how E is wrong. More importantly how B is correct from the perspective i used. 
How to deal with such abstractness in a passage??

Thanks in advance.

straykid · Answer

This is a PRINCIPLE question, from the LSAT.

There are any not principle questions on the GMAT.

You are wasting your time if you are focused on questions that simply will not be on the GMAT.

To anyone who disagrees, you are welcome to waste your time, but I don't know why you want to.

I guess if you want to waste your time, you could also study world capitals and bird identification. They're also not on the GMAT, but hey, why not?

kumarvibhuti630 · Answer

Conclusion : Dried parsley should never be used in cooking
 Reasoning : Dried parsley is far less tasty and healthful than fresh parsley is

Assumption thinking : we need to identify something that can confirm that dried parsley should never be used because of less tasty and healthful nature. Also it must be true.

(A) Fresh ingredients should be used in cooking whenever possible
 Explanation : It fails on the ground of having it must be true for the conclusion to hold true. Keywords: whenever possible.
It is saying in certain times one can use dried parsley if fresh parsley is not there.

(B) Only the tastiest ingredients should ever be used in cooking
 Explanation : It is the best answer and what we were looking for. As we know that dried parsley is not tastier than fresh parsley, so it should not be used.

(C) Ingredients that should never be used in cooking are generally neither tasty nor helpful
 Explanation : Again this is excluding the other scenario and doesn't identify as assumption. Keyword: generally

(D) Parsley that is not both tasty and healthful should never be used in cooking
 Explanation : In premise we got a relative comparison between fresh and dried parsley, it was never said that dried parsley is not tasty and healthful

(E) In cooking, dried ingredients are inferior to fresh ingredients
 Explanation : Irrelevant, doesn't make sense. It can be a support or another conclusion , but not the assumption what we are looking for.

arushi118 · Answer

KarishmaB  can you please help with this? How is B correct? We are told that we should not use dried parsley as it is not tastier than fresh parley - But nowhere it says that it should be the tastiest -> It just needs to be more tasty than fresh parsley.

RohanOO7 · Answer

Because question asked for Principle and option D is not a principle

KarishmaB · Answer

Premise:   Dried parsley is less tasty and less healthful than fresh.
  Conclusion:   It should never be used in cooking.

Which principle will justify the argument?

(A) Fresh ingredients should be used in cooking whenever possible

Not correct. We are not trying to establish that because dried parsley is not fresh that is why it shouldn't be used. We need to justify that something which is neither tasty nor healthy shouldn't be used.

(B) Only the tastiest ingredients should ever be used in cooking

If this were the principle, then we could say that dried parsley should never be used. We are given that it is not the tastiest; that fresh parsley is tastier.

Consider this:

Premises:  
Dried parsley is less tasty and less healthful than fresh.
Only the tastiest ingredients should ever be used in cooking

Conclusion:  Dried parsley should never be used in cooking.

The conclusion can be derived, right? Correct answer.

(C) Ingredients that should never be used in cooking are generally neither tasty nor helpful

I am guessing 'helpful' is a typo here and it should be 'healthful'.
This would be useful if our premise and conclusion were reverse. Ignore.

(D) Parsley that is not both tasty and healthful should never be used in cooking

The argument only compares dried and fresh parsley. It does not say that dried parsley is not tasty and not healthful. 
It only says that compared with fresh, dried is far less tasty and healthful. Dried may still be tasty and healthful on its own, just not as much as fresh. 
That is why (D) is not the correct answer here.

Consider this:

Premises:  
Dried parsley is less tasty and less healthful than fresh.
Parsley that is not both tasty and healthful should never be used in cooking

Conclusion:  Dried parsley should never be used in cooking.

I don't know whether dried parsley is 'tasty and healthful.' I only know that it is less tasty and healthful than fresh. So I cannot derive the conclusion.

(E) In cooking, dried ingredients are inferior to fresh ingredients

Not correct. The discussion is about taste and health. That discussion would be pointless if the principle were simply that dried ingredients are inferior and should never be used.

Answer (B)

consequaturad · Answer

Nope — B still isn’t right. Here’s the short, mildly judgmental explanation so your brain can stop arguing with the page.

What the argument says

Premise: Dried parsley is far less tasty and healthful than fresh parsley.

Conclusion: Dried parsley should never be used in cooking.

To get from premise to conclusion you need a rule that links “less tasty and less healthful” to “never use.”

Why (B) fails — short and concrete:

(B) says only the tastiest ingredients should ever be used. Great. That covers taste, but says nothing about healthfulness. The original argument explicitly mentions both taste and health. Ignoring half the evidence is not a justification, it’s selective amnesia.

Even if you accept (B) you still don’t get the conclusion unless you also know that dried parsley is not among the tastiest ingredients overall. The premise only says it is less tasty than fresh parsley, not that it fails to be “tasty enough” overall. So (B) + premise does not necessarily entail “never use dried parsley.” Counterexample: fresh parsley might be the absolute tastiest, dried parsley might still be tasty enough to count as one of the “tastiest.” Conclusion doesn’t follow.

Why (D) works

(D) says parsley that is not both tasty and healthful should never be used. That directly supplies the missing rule. If the premise is taken to mean dried parsley is deficient in both taste and health (which the argument implies by “far less tasty and healthful”), then (D) connects that deficiency to the “never use” conclusion in one step. No extra assumptions required.

About your point that the premise only compares (not asserts absolute lack):

Exactly — the argument is relying on an unstated assumption that “far less tasty and healthful” means “not sufficiently tasty and not sufficiently healthful.” The job of the correct principle is to make that unstated step explicit. (D) does that. (B) does not.

Final verdict: (D) is the principle that most clearly justifies the argument. Pick (B) only if you enjoy throwing half the reasons away and calling it logic.

Dried parsley should never be used in cooking, for it is far less

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Dried parsley should never be used in cooking, for it is far less

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