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- Wed Apr 27, 2016 10:09 am
#23482
Complete Question Explanation
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (D)
The language in the question stem, "provide the most support of which one of the following conclusions," indicates that we are taking the stimulus as true and seeing what the consequences are. Directionality is critical: we are not testing answer choices to see how they might impact the stimulus. This is a Must Be True question and only one answer choice will be an unavoidable consequence of the situation described in the stimulus.
By definition, Must Be True stimuli leave out something that can be known for sure based on the existing facts. Therefore a clear understanding of the facts is crucial, and getting to that understanding is most easily accomplished when we use our own words to describe the situation. Here, we know that "the great majority" [maybe 90% or more?] of people who drink unaltered coffee with caffeine do have a preference for arabica beans over robusta beans. Yet, the numbers basically switch when we look at decaffeinated coffee, in which case robusta beans are "overwhelmingly" [maybe 90% or more?] preferred over arabica beans because the flavor of robusta beans is not as affected by decaffeination as is the flavor of arabica beans. Finally, we learn just how decaffeination works: in addition to caffeine, certain substances are reduced or removed, and one of the substances directly impacts how rich the coffee's flavor is.
One trap that seems to catch LSAT test-takers on Must Be True questions is thinking that a particular point has already been said explicitly when, in fact, it never was stated. When a test-taker makes this mistake, he or she makes the problem much harder than necessary. We are limited to the facts at hand and we cannot import any information, so our focus can be very particular.
Is this case, there is a difference between arabica beans and robusta beans, and the correct answer choice will reference it. Obviously, the difference involves what happens during the decaffeination process, after which the previously-richer arabica bean is comparatively bland. Due to the limited number of elements in the problem, there is only one possible explanation: the one chemical that both is a factor in taste richness and can be affected by decaffeination. Just to make sure we keep our bearings straight, we should note that this chemical (let's call it Chemical X) does not have to be the only chemical that determines taste richness. Also, decaffeination can remove some amount of a given substance without necessarily removing all of that substance. For all the reasons above, Chemical X must be relatively higher in arabica beans before decaffeination and relatively lower in arabica beans after decaffeination. This means that robusta beans are better at hanging on to the amount of Chemical X with which they begin decaffeination than are arabica beans — in this way, robusta beans are more "robust."
Answer choice (A): If we remember how Must Be True questions operate, we could simply ask ourselves, "What in the world do supply-and-demand market considerations have to do with differences in Chemical X extraction between bean types?" Loser!
Answer choice (B): This might be tempting if we somehow fell into the trap of thinking that the amount of non-caffeine chemicals extracted by decaffeination was in direct proportion to the amount caffeine extracted. However, there is absolutely zero support for the idea that the number of molecules of Chemical X extracted has any relation to the number of molecules of caffeine extracted. Perhaps robusta beans have a radically different anatomy than that of arabica beans. Robusta beans might protect their Chemical X molecules inside special chambers near the interior of the bean while arabica beans have their Chemical X molecules exposed on the surface of the bean, ready to be washed away easily. As long as we see that each chemical's reaction to decaffeination can be totally independent of other chemicals' reactions, we can toss this answer choice.
Answer choice (C): This is not correct because the stimulus did not provide any information relating to why people switch or who might be inclined to switch. Basically, we can read the stimulus as saying that a random person who does a taste test with regular coffee will probably prefer coffee from arabica beans and a random person who does a taste test with decaffeinated coffee will probably prefer coffee from robusta beans. People do not switch to decaffeinated coffee because they are bean-loyal or any such thing. People switch to decaffeinated coffee because they do not want caffeine, and robusta just happens to be the better tasting decaffeinated coffee for most people.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. We can see that it matches our prephrase as long as we realize that this answer choice is describing what happens with Chemical X. We should confidently select this answer if we have dealt with the other four.
Answer choice (E): What does cost have to do with anything? We never read about cost in the stimulus and we already noted in our analysis of answer choice C that the stimulus never discusses the reason(s) why people switch to decaffeinated coffee. This should be an easy discard because we are looking for a chemical comparison involving arabica beans and robusta beans.
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (D)
The language in the question stem, "provide the most support of which one of the following conclusions," indicates that we are taking the stimulus as true and seeing what the consequences are. Directionality is critical: we are not testing answer choices to see how they might impact the stimulus. This is a Must Be True question and only one answer choice will be an unavoidable consequence of the situation described in the stimulus.
By definition, Must Be True stimuli leave out something that can be known for sure based on the existing facts. Therefore a clear understanding of the facts is crucial, and getting to that understanding is most easily accomplished when we use our own words to describe the situation. Here, we know that "the great majority" [maybe 90% or more?] of people who drink unaltered coffee with caffeine do have a preference for arabica beans over robusta beans. Yet, the numbers basically switch when we look at decaffeinated coffee, in which case robusta beans are "overwhelmingly" [maybe 90% or more?] preferred over arabica beans because the flavor of robusta beans is not as affected by decaffeination as is the flavor of arabica beans. Finally, we learn just how decaffeination works: in addition to caffeine, certain substances are reduced or removed, and one of the substances directly impacts how rich the coffee's flavor is.
One trap that seems to catch LSAT test-takers on Must Be True questions is thinking that a particular point has already been said explicitly when, in fact, it never was stated. When a test-taker makes this mistake, he or she makes the problem much harder than necessary. We are limited to the facts at hand and we cannot import any information, so our focus can be very particular.
Is this case, there is a difference between arabica beans and robusta beans, and the correct answer choice will reference it. Obviously, the difference involves what happens during the decaffeination process, after which the previously-richer arabica bean is comparatively bland. Due to the limited number of elements in the problem, there is only one possible explanation: the one chemical that both is a factor in taste richness and can be affected by decaffeination. Just to make sure we keep our bearings straight, we should note that this chemical (let's call it Chemical X) does not have to be the only chemical that determines taste richness. Also, decaffeination can remove some amount of a given substance without necessarily removing all of that substance. For all the reasons above, Chemical X must be relatively higher in arabica beans before decaffeination and relatively lower in arabica beans after decaffeination. This means that robusta beans are better at hanging on to the amount of Chemical X with which they begin decaffeination than are arabica beans — in this way, robusta beans are more "robust."
Answer choice (A): If we remember how Must Be True questions operate, we could simply ask ourselves, "What in the world do supply-and-demand market considerations have to do with differences in Chemical X extraction between bean types?" Loser!
Answer choice (B): This might be tempting if we somehow fell into the trap of thinking that the amount of non-caffeine chemicals extracted by decaffeination was in direct proportion to the amount caffeine extracted. However, there is absolutely zero support for the idea that the number of molecules of Chemical X extracted has any relation to the number of molecules of caffeine extracted. Perhaps robusta beans have a radically different anatomy than that of arabica beans. Robusta beans might protect their Chemical X molecules inside special chambers near the interior of the bean while arabica beans have their Chemical X molecules exposed on the surface of the bean, ready to be washed away easily. As long as we see that each chemical's reaction to decaffeination can be totally independent of other chemicals' reactions, we can toss this answer choice.
Answer choice (C): This is not correct because the stimulus did not provide any information relating to why people switch or who might be inclined to switch. Basically, we can read the stimulus as saying that a random person who does a taste test with regular coffee will probably prefer coffee from arabica beans and a random person who does a taste test with decaffeinated coffee will probably prefer coffee from robusta beans. People do not switch to decaffeinated coffee because they are bean-loyal or any such thing. People switch to decaffeinated coffee because they do not want caffeine, and robusta just happens to be the better tasting decaffeinated coffee for most people.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. We can see that it matches our prephrase as long as we realize that this answer choice is describing what happens with Chemical X. We should confidently select this answer if we have dealt with the other four.
Answer choice (E): What does cost have to do with anything? We never read about cost in the stimulus and we already noted in our analysis of answer choice C that the stimulus never discusses the reason(s) why people switch to decaffeinated coffee. This should be an easy discard because we are looking for a chemical comparison involving arabica beans and robusta beans.