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#33152
Complete Question Explanation
Justify the Conclusion—SN. The correct answer choice is (D)
This Justify the Conclusion question gives you a tremendous opportunity to develop a precision prephrase, because the conclusion contains new information, not provided in a premise. Because this information must be provided by the correct answer choice, your prephrase can be very precise.
The stimulus begins with a conditional relationship: if the budget does not allow for more dairy inspectors to be hired, most of the large dairies in the central valley will not meet federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes.
You can diagram this relationship as:
BA = budget allows for more dairy inspectors to be hired
MS = most large dairies will meet federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes
You can infer, then, that the necessary condition must be fulfilled, that most large dairies will not meet federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes (i.e., MS). However, this is not the conclusion reached by the stimulus author. Instead, the conclusion is that the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
This information about the drinking water being likely to become polluted has appeared for the first time in the conclusion. You may feel the stimulus discussed this possibility when it told you that the natural waste can seep into streams and groundwater. Do not fall for this trap. Certainly, these ideas are connected. But they are not the same.
You are not permitted to assume that the district gets it drinking water from the streams and groundwater. And, even if that assumption were permissible, it would not necessarily be the case that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted. The inclusion of the word “most” in the conclusion is intended to remind you of the use of the word “most” in the first sentence. However, just because most of the large dairies in the central valley do not meet the federal standards does not justify the conclusion that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
Your very mechanical prephrase in this Justify the Conclusion question is that the correct answer choice will explicitly connect these previously unconnected ideas in a definitive way that proves the conclusion is valid, such that if most of the large dairies in the central valley do not meet the federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes, then most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted:
Answer choice (B): Information about what is required to keep the drinking water in the district clean does not justify the conclusion that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
Answer choice (C): This answer choice is incorrect, because it states only what is required for it to be likely that most of the district’s drinking water will become polluted, rather than information that would prove that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. This answer choice presents the prephrase described above. It is the nature of the Justify the Conclusion answer choice, which must prove the validity of the stimulus, that permitted such a precise prephrase for this question.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice does not prove the validity of the conclusion, because it relies on different, and stronger, evidence than what was provided. The stimulus merely provided that most of the large dairies in the central valley will fail to meet the federal standards, not that none of the large dairies in the central valley will fail to meet the federal standards.
Justify the Conclusion—SN. The correct answer choice is (D)
This Justify the Conclusion question gives you a tremendous opportunity to develop a precision prephrase, because the conclusion contains new information, not provided in a premise. Because this information must be provided by the correct answer choice, your prephrase can be very precise.
The stimulus begins with a conditional relationship: if the budget does not allow for more dairy inspectors to be hired, most of the large dairies in the central valley will not meet federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes.
You can diagram this relationship as:
BA = budget allows for more dairy inspectors to be hired
MS = most large dairies will meet federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes
- BA
MS
You can infer, then, that the necessary condition must be fulfilled, that most large dairies will not meet federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes (i.e., MS). However, this is not the conclusion reached by the stimulus author. Instead, the conclusion is that the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
This information about the drinking water being likely to become polluted has appeared for the first time in the conclusion. You may feel the stimulus discussed this possibility when it told you that the natural waste can seep into streams and groundwater. Do not fall for this trap. Certainly, these ideas are connected. But they are not the same.
You are not permitted to assume that the district gets it drinking water from the streams and groundwater. And, even if that assumption were permissible, it would not necessarily be the case that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted. The inclusion of the word “most” in the conclusion is intended to remind you of the use of the word “most” in the first sentence. However, just because most of the large dairies in the central valley do not meet the federal standards does not justify the conclusion that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
Your very mechanical prephrase in this Justify the Conclusion question is that the correct answer choice will explicitly connect these previously unconnected ideas in a definitive way that proves the conclusion is valid, such that if most of the large dairies in the central valley do not meet the federal standards governing the disposal of natural wastes, then most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted:
- MS most drinking water likely to be become polluted
Answer choice (B): Information about what is required to keep the drinking water in the district clean does not justify the conclusion that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
Answer choice (C): This answer choice is incorrect, because it states only what is required for it to be likely that most of the district’s drinking water will become polluted, rather than information that would prove that most of the district’s drinking water is likely to become polluted.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. This answer choice presents the prephrase described above. It is the nature of the Justify the Conclusion answer choice, which must prove the validity of the stimulus, that permitted such a precise prephrase for this question.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice does not prove the validity of the conclusion, because it relies on different, and stronger, evidence than what was provided. The stimulus merely provided that most of the large dairies in the central valley will fail to meet the federal standards, not that none of the large dairies in the central valley will fail to meet the federal standards.
