#3 - The master plan for the new park calls for the planting

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Strengthen. The correct answer choice is (E).

There is some element of Formal Logic at work in this stimulus, based on the use of the qualifiers "most" and "probably." We know that the master plan requires two things: 1) that the trees be of species native to the area, and 2) that they not grow to be very large. The supplier, Three Rivers, mostly sells native plants, so that helps, but we have no information about whether it sells any that grow to be very large, and that should raise concerns about the correctness of the conclusion. It would be a big problem (literally) if Three Rivers sold a lot of cottonwood trees, for example.

To strengthen the claim that the donated trees, which were purchased at Three Rivers, comply with the plan, it would be very helpful to remove the potential problem of those trees being types that grow to be very large.

Answer choice (A): An interesting answer choice, because we are supposed to accept all the answers as true, and yet this appears to directly contradict the information in the stimulus. But in fact it does not, because the restriction against very large trees is mentioned only in relation to the new park. Perhaps the master plan allows for very large trees in existing parks, but not the new park! Meanwhile, this answer does nothing to eliminate the problem that we could encounter in the new park if Three Rivers sells trees that grow to be very large.

Answer choice (B): This answer weakens the argument, making it possible that the donated trees are cottonwoods, which grow to be very large and thus do not comply with the master plan for the new park.

Answer choice (C): AN irrelevant answer choice, because regardless of how many shrubs Three Rivers sells, the community group purchased trees from them. The only issue is whether those trees probably comply with the plan.

Answer choice (D): An answer about non-native trees will not help our argument. We already know that Three Rivers mostly sells native species, and that the trees were purchased there. The problem we need to deal with (and preferably eliminate) has to do with how large those trees grow, not how hard to find other trees are.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. A match for our prephrase, this answer eliminates the possibility that any of the trees purchased by the community group will be types that grow to be very large, and so strengthens the claim that the donated trees probably comply with the plan. Note that it does not prove that they DO comply with the plan, because it remains possible that some of them are not native species.

[mpoulson]

Hello,

I see why the answer is E, but I didn't see why D was wrong. Was it that the Nursery could specialize in rare trees which would undermine the argument? Or is D wrong for another reason? Thank you.

V/r,

Micah

[Ladan Soleimani]

Hi Micah,

The reason answer (D) does not work is because it is talking about non-native trees that are consistent with the plan. The master plan calls for native trees, so there are no non-native trees consistent with the plan. Since any non-native tree is inconsistent the answer will not strengthen the conclusion that the trees are probably consistent. I hope that helps.

Ladan

[lsater180]

Hello team,

I'm still unsure of why C does not make a good answer choice.
If many of the "native" species (required by the master plan) are shrubs, doesn't that imply that there's a higher possibility of getting native species that will NOT grow to be very large?

As far as I understand, shrubs are small to medium sized plants so I thought there's a reason why the LSAT writers chose the word "shrubs" versus other plants.

Many native species being shrubs, not trees, definitely increases the chance of donated trees probably being grown-not-to-be-very-large.

Or is this too much outside information that should be avoided? I'm so confused

[Dana D]

Hey lsater,

Be careful when comparing 'most' and 'all' concepts on the test. The stimulus tells us no very tall trees will be planted at the new park - if you didn't read the stimulus this way, that's your first comprehension check. When the test says native trees will be planted except those that grow very tall - it means no tall trees, period. So even if most of the trees donated by the nursery are shrubs, which are short, there's still a possibility for a very tall tree to be donated with answer choice (C). All it takes is one large tree to break the master plan. Answer choice (E) is a better choice because it eliminates the possibility of the nursery donating even one tall tree and ensures the master plan is followed.

Hope that helps!