#9 - Archaeologists are currently analyzing plant remains

[sean.reilly]

Hello! I got this question correct but struggled with it and would like some clarification on why (B) is correct. Initially I eliminated (B). I understand how this answer choice hints at the consequences of the binary (either CULTIVATED / or WILD) conditionality established in the stimulus. I also understand how if the plants were cultivated, clearly, they were used in novel ways.

However, I took issue with the WILD side of the coin. We merely know that, if wild, the settlement used a "wider variety" of plants than any other community at the time. I don't think this actually fulfills the condition put forth in (B) that the settlement "used some plants in ways no one else did at the time." Variety does not mean the settlement used plants that no one else did - it is entirely possible that all of the wild plants used by the settlement were in use by other, separate, cultures. All we know is that no other culture used as varied a set of plants simultaneously.

I ended up choosing B because I thought all the other choices were worse. Is this just an example of the difference between a Must Be True 100% standard and a Most Strongly Supported 95% standard? Or am I overthinking this?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi Sean,

You're not alone in questioning Answer B in relation to the Wild/Uncultivated side of the issue. In fact, if you read some earlier posts, you'll see others have also wondered about it.

While I don't think that you're "overthinking it" in a general sense (those distinctions and nuances can be important at times), this is a case where Answer B is the best answer that we have available.

You are also correct that this is a perfect illustration of the difference between a "Most Strongly Supported" question and a "Must Be True" question. Here, Answer B is the most strongly supported by the information in the stimulus although it is not necessarily 100% true for the reasons that you mention. It is possible that, collectively, there were other people in the world eating the same foods as the people at the site even though the people at the site ate a wider variety than any other specific group of people at the time.

[JotaDay]

I chose B and got this question correct but it took me longer than it should have because i got caught up with the difference between "...ways that no other people did at that time..." AND "...ways that no other KNOWN people did at that time...". The former is from the answer and latter is from the stimulus. We can't say from the passage that they used it before all other people. we can only say that they used it before all other known people and I was looking for that in an answer. Am I missing something or not making an assumption that I should be?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi JotaDay,

Your careful reading and attention to detail in noting the differences between "known people" and simply "people" in Answer B will generally serve you well on the LSAT because such differences often do matter. In this case, however, Answer B is simply expressing a generalization based on the two conditional statements in the stimulus that have opposite sufficient conditions.

Since this is a Most Strongly Supported question rather than a Must Be True question, you may need to loosen your standards with the answers a bit. Here, for example, it may be possible that some unknown group of people discovered agriculture before the people at this site, so Answer B isn't a 100% Must Be True answer, but it is the answer that is most supported by the information in the stimulus.