Logical reasoning PrepTest 113 · Section 4 · Question 25

Question prompt

In ancient Mesopotamia, prior Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Strengthen Questions

Answer Anticipation

This argument falls into a common pattern - a phenomenon is noted from ancient Mesopotamia, and an explanation is brought up. The question stem asks us to strengthen that explanation.
Here, the phenomenon is that wheat production went down and barley production went up. The explanation is a laundry list of issues that supposedly resulted in wheat production decreasing.
However, that explanation only deals with half of the phenomenon - the decline in wheat production. It’s also noted that barley production went up. And there’s no reason given to believe that barley shouldn’t have also been affected by excessive irrigation, lack of drainage, and the accumulation of salts.
As such, if we want to strengthen the argument that these were the causes of the decline in wheat cultivation, we should find an answer stating that barley - the “replacement” crop - wouldn’t be affected (or, at least, as affected) by these issues.
Looking at this another way, the phenomenon suggests that wheat and barley are different. If we want to strengthen an argument that certain things cause wheat production to decline when barley production was increasing, we should find a relevant difference between the crops.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The cultivation of barley Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer does raise a difference between wheat and barley. However, the stimulus says that “excessive” irrigation was a problem for the production of wheat, so it doesn’t seem as if a lack of water was a problem that needed to be addressed by finding a crop that requires less water.
  2. B
    Barley has much greater Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer establishes a relevant difference between wheat and barley with respect to the explanation for the decline in wheat production. If barley can resist salted soil much better than wheat can, then an increase in soil salt is strengthened as an explanation for the shift from wheat to barley.
  3. C
    Prior to 2900 B.C., Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This aligns with the argument, but it provides no evidence that the shift was because of specific problems.
  4. D
    Around 2900 B.C., a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    If anything, by suggesting an alternative reason for the shift (a disease that killed wheat), this answer weakens the argument. It brings up a relevant difference, but it doesn’t tie into the provided explanation.
  5. E
    Literary and archaeological evidence Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This answer aligns with the argument, but it doesn’t get into why this shift occurred, so it can’t strengthen an argument designed to explain that shift.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 9%
  2. B Credited 74%
  3. C 6%
  4. D 5%
  5. E 6%

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