Logical reasoning PrepTest 138 · Section 3 · Question 10

Incorrect. Tourism is only discussed in the context of the third solution mentioned— poisoning the lake. And it's quite possible that draining the lake was ruled out as a solution because it would hurt the region's tourism economy.

Incorrect. There's nothing to suggest that the poison was a one-off—maybe it was done several decades ago, as well, when the pike first showed up.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Problem: Razor-toothed northern pike could get into a river system and wipe out salmon and trout
Solution 1: Introducing pike-specific diseases
Solution 2: Draining the lake
Both ruled out
Solution 4 years ago: Poison the lake
Problem with that solution: Residents were mad; the water was tainted for months;
tourism economy suffered

Answer Anticipation:
These statements certainly paint a picture of a big problem being faced with these northern pike, but it's hard to see what specific inference the correct answer is going to reference. Laying out the considered and tried solutions will probably help us analyze the answers, but let's not get too wrapped up in an anticipation and instead head as quickly as we can to them so we have plenty of time to check against the various details from the stimulus.

Answer Explanation:
There is still a discussion of solutions being needed to prevent the northern pike from getting into the adjoining river system, so the solution from four years ago clearly didn't resolve the issue. This answer is supported by the stimulus, and it's definitely not an answer we would have anticipated, so it's a good thing we headed to the answers ASAP!

Key Takeaway:
When a Must Be True question doesn't feature conditional logic or strongly overlapping statements, it's often best to organize the information as best you can and then head to the answers. Here, framing the stimulus around the problem/solution nature of it (something we've done in other argument-based LR questions plenty of times) helped us to keep information organized in our heads as we analyzed the answers.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of the deliberation process from 4 years ago, so this answer is out of scope.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of a fishing economy, just a tourism one, so this answer is out of scope.