#18 - Some cleaning fluids, synthetic carpets, wall paneling

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be True-CE. The correct answer choice is (D)

The stimulus for this question is factual, without any real argument. Some cleaning fluids, the author tells us, release toxins, which can be problematic without proper ventilation, and houseplants can remove some of these toxins from the air.

This question offers a scenario with fairly limited information: A person is living in an insulated house with both toxin releasing products and houseplants. Notice how much information is lacking: We don’t know if the house is well ventilated, we don’t know what types of toxins are being released into the air, and we don’t know how many house plants there are.

Answer Choice (A): Without the missing information discussed above, we can’t jump to any conclusions about the need to ventilate the house.

Answer Choice (B): As with the above answer choice, without any information about the number of trees or the amount of ventilation, this conclusion is unjustified.

Answer Choice (C): This answer choice goes even further than (A) or (B). We cannot predict how safe the air will be, and without more information there is no reason to assume that the house will be warm.

Answer Choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. If there is adequate ventilation, perhaps the house has no formaldehyde. This answer only says that if there is formaldehyde in the air, the plants will reduce the formaldehyde level in the small, well-insulated house. We know that this is the case from the information provided in the stimulus.

Answer Choice (E): This answer is incorrect, because we know nothing about the effect of houseplants on benzene levels.

[haideemaria]

Hello,

Currently I am working on Must Be True Questions and I wanted a few explanations for wrong answer choices, as the book does not provide any. All of these questions are from the Logical Reasoning Question Type Training book.

pg 25, Q15
This was one was hard for me. I was stuck between answers C and D.
I chose C.
The correct answer was D.

[Robert Carroll]

haidee,

This tough question can be made easier by applying the Fact Test: stick to the facts in the stimulus and don't go beyond them, even if an answer choice seems really plausible. For a Must Be True question, the stimulus has to PROVE the right answer, and not merely make it possible or likely.

The reason C is not correct is that it goes too far - it says "The house will be warm and have a safe air supply." The stimulus cites a test where 20 large plants removed formaldehyde from the house, but formaldehyde is only one possible reason the air supply might be unsafe. So C goes too far - instead of merely saying that the plants would remove formaldehyde, it says the air is safe without referring only to the one chemical dealt with in the test.

Answer D sticks to the facts, and refers only to formaldehyde, so it does not contain new information or step beyond the facts in the stimulus.

Other answers:

A is extreme; we know only that plants help with one chemical, not that plants obviate the need to ventilate.

B contradicts what we know from the stimulus; formaldehyde, at the very least, will be eliminated by the plants.

E discusses benzene, whereas the stimulus only says that plants eliminate formaldehyde, so it goes beyond the bare facts of the stimulus.

[kristinaroz93]

"some cleaning fluids, synthetic carpets, wall paneling, and other products release toxins..."

Is E wrong also due to the word "release" in the answer choice, in addition to not knowing benzine levels as explained in the online student center. This is seeing as how we only know that plants help to remove some of the toxins ALREADY in the air, but we know nothing of plants being able to block off their originial initiation into the air?

And do we not know that benzine levels are reduced just because no specific example/evidence was given for them, in the way one was given for formaldehyde. Because of the way the stimulus is phrased, it would make sense that they'd mention benzine at all so they can later explain its partial removal by houseplants. Why did they mention benzine then, was it just another method of trickery by LSAT makers, so that we'd presume it gets removed as well?

Best,

kristina

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi Kristina,

You're on a roll! Once again, you're right on. Great job!

They mention benzene as a distractor to throw you off; but it seems like you saw through it.

[Rosepose24]

Hi there,

I picked D because it is firmly supported by the "Recent tests" and the question stem is asking us to consider the same scenario as the testing environment. With the missing information at the very least we can infer that having some plant decreases the formaldehyde level in the air surely.

My question is about E though because I can't clarify how benzene is even the part that makes it incorrect. Initially I was struggling with benzene being mentioned but after reading the line "the quantities released of each will decrease" I knew it was absolutely wrong. However the explanations above seem to highlight the presence of BENZENE in the answer choice as the main eliminator. Whereas, for me, it was the idea that -the houseplants could influence the quantities of toxin originally being released from household products- making this AC unsupported.
Is it correct to say that Benzene may be the confusing aspect but could be accepted if the second part of the statement was different? I feel that if the answer choice said "if F and Benzene are being released into air supply, their levels will decrease" this could be a contender? (even with the presence of benzene?)

Summary of issue:
I am only confident the answer is incorrect because it claims that plants change the quantities released, but should the presence of 'benzene' signal more of a warning for me like the administrator's explanation above. Please clarify how I should solidify my thinking here.

[Ryan Twomey]

Hey Rosepose24,

I agree with you that the issue with this answer choice is the word "released." That is also what made the answer choice wrong for me right away. The house plants will not have an effect on anything released. However, the study only mentioned formaldehyde, so we would ideally not want an answer choice with Benzene in it.

This is a question where D is the best answer, and I would not consider this a process of elimination type of question as much as I would consider D being above and beyond the best answer. Your line of thinking in understanding why E was wrong was correct though.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Ryan