#2 - A certain type of insect trap uses a scented lure to

[akanshalsat]

Hello! THis is a question from LRTT Resolve the Paradox section, and its question number 55. I do not understand how D resolves the paradox, if someone could possibly help.

Thanks!

[nicholaspavic]

Hi akansha,

So remember that you always want to tell us which answer you went with so that we can discuss why it is wrong. Also, remember that you always want to read the stimulus very carefully on these Resolve the Paradox stimuli. And this one is especially tricky because it really is playing a bit of a game with us here. Yes, it may make sense to us that the more traps we place, the more beetles we catch in the garden, but that's not where the stimulus ends. It goes on to include the fact that just putting one trap in the garden increases the number of beetles in the garden. Well how can that be?

Answer Choice (D) successfully resolves the paradox for us by explaining that more traps does not necessarily equal more beetles attracted. That's why it's the correct answer. It explains why the number present would increase without more traps.

Thanks for the great question and I hope this helps.

[lyn]

I feel like I have to convince myself to understand why D is right. I chose E because my reasoning was the trap will attract many beetles and since there will be no room for all of them in the bag, they will end up lingering in the garden and thus increase in size. I understand D is saying several traps does not attract more beetles than one trap would, but what does that have to do with the fact that several traps will decease the number of Beetles while one trap will increase the number?

[Paul Marsh]

Hi Lyn!

Like I mentioned in a reply to one of your other posts, for these Resolve the Paradox questions we can't assume anything beyond what's in the stimulus and the answer choice. The paradox here is that adding many traps = fewer beetles, while adding one trap = more beetles. For Answer Choice (E) to do an effective job resolving this paradox, we kind of have to assume it says something like, "When there is only one trap in the garden, the plastic bag quickly becomes filled to capacity, allowing some rose beetles to escape; when the garden contains more than one trap, the plastic bags do not fill to capacity and they don't escape." But we can't make that assumption - it's possible that every trap added fills to capacity! In order to resolve the paradox, we want to look for an answer choice that explains how both parts of the paradox can be true at the same time. (E) explains how a single trap can increase the number of beetles, but it doesn't do anything to tell us why adding more traps would decrease beetles.

Answer Choice (D) does resolve the paradox, however. It explains why adding one trap will increase the number of beetles (it attracts more than it can handle), and it also explains why adding more will decrease the number of beetles (they don't attract more beetles than just one bag, but they can of course handle more).

The general take-away here is that a good Resolve the Paradox answer choice will lay out how both parts of the paradox can be true at the same time. Hope that helps!

[lyn]

Ahh, this makes perfect sense Paul, thank you!!