#17 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):


This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[lawschoolforme]

Hi,

Why is C the correct answer?

If anything, I thought crop yields would be more likely to be improved by adding Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria to the soil (re: lines 15-25).

Thanks!

-lawschoolforme

[Steve Stein]

Hi,

Pseudomonas flourescens is antagonistic to phytopathogens, which are parasites. This question asks about crops that are impervious to such organisms: If those parasitic organisms can't get to these impervious crops to begin with, Pseudomonas flourescens would have no parasitic phytopathogens to fight off, so there would be no reason to expect improvement.

Another tough one! I hope that's helpful--please let me know whether this is clear--thanks!

~Steve

[lawschoolforme]

Hi,

Whoa! I totally didn't even register word "parasitical" in the question. Thanks so much again!

-lawschoolforme

[Kelly R]

Hi PS,

Can (E) be eliminated on the grounds that the passage makes no reference to the relative levels of phytopathogenic bacteria among crops? Though crops impervious to parasites would be unaffected by the Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that these crops will be encumbered by *higher* levels of phytopathogenic bacteria than the roots of other crops. Seems like (E) might be baiting an unwarranted assumption. Does this reasoning track?

[Paul Marsh]

Hi Kelly R! Your reasoning looks good; there's nothing in the passage to suggest higher level of phytopathogenic bacteria in the soil for one time of plant versus another. For a Must be True RC question like this, we want to point to a specific passage in the text that supports our answer; we can't do that for (E).

Nice going!