Critical Reasoning

rx_11 wrote:Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

Davison River farmers are currently deciding between planting winter wheat this fall or spring wheat next spring.
Winter wheat and spring wheat are usually about equally profi table. Because of new government restrictions
on the use of Davison River water for irrigation, per acre yields for winter wheat, though not for spring wheat,
would be much lower than average. Therefore, planting spring wheat will be more profi table than planting winter
wheat, since___________.

(A) the smaller-than-average size of a winter wheat harvest this year would not be compensated for by higher
winter wheat prices
(B) new crops of spring wheat must be planted earlier than the time at which standing crops of winter wheat
are ready to be harvested
(C) the spring wheat that farmers in the Davison River region plant is well adapted to the soil of the region
(D) spring wheat has uses that are different from those of winter wheat
(E) planting spring wheat is more profi table than planting certain other crops, such as rye



Hi rx

In CR questions please pay attention to the specific words given in the argument.More importantly in the conclusion.
Here the conclusion is "Therefore, planting spring wheat will be more profitable than planting winter
wheat, since" the main word is profitable. 9 out of 10 times answer choice that attacks this word (or you may call it a scope of the argument) must be the correct answer, saying this you should still read all the other answer choices and eliminate them.
So here A and E are the answer choices that consider profitably but remember the arguments says the decision is between winter wheat and spring wheat, so E is out of scope.Hence answer is A.























OA is A.

I've got two questions.

1. What type of question should we put this question into ?? I feel confused about this question because I do not know what does the 'since___________' mean?? I mean I don't know whether I should do.. Should I find a statement that support the argument, or explain the reasoning of the argument, or the assumption of this argument? I confuse.

2. Why is C wrong? I think C helps explain the argument and rule out the possibility that spring wheat cannot survive in this region. So why is C wrong?

Hope anyone can help me!! Thanks!

selango wrote:Winter wheat and Spring wheat are equally profitable.

Goverment restrictions on usage of water for Winter wheat.

Planting spring wheat is more profitable.


We need to look for the option that answer the question 'Why planting spring wheat is more profitable comprared to winter wheat?'

Option C is not correct.Why?

Because the argument states that both are equally profitable.If Spring wheat is well adapted to the soil,the winter wheat also do.It does not provide any reason why spring wheat is profitable.

Now look at Option A.

There may be the scenario since the usage is restricted to winter wheat,it may sell at higher prices for the compensation,Then in this case planting winter wheat is more profitable.
But Option A states that winter wheat harvest would not be compensated by higher price.In this case planting Spring wheat is more profitable.This is correct and logically completes the argument.

sk818020 wrote:To answer your questions;

1) This is an assumption question. It is asks you to determine what piece of evidence is absent, but must also be true for the conclusion to be true.

2) The argument says that per acre yield of winter wheat will be lower on average than that of spring wheat. The argument also concludes that spring wheat will be more profitable than winter wheat. Given this evidence you must ask yourself, if these two wheats are normally equally profitable, why would the lower than average yield of winter wheat per acre make it less profitable than spring wheat? There is only one conceivable instance where less yield per acre of winter wheat will become equal or more profitable than the average spring wheat yield. If the winter wheat becomes more expensive, you might be able to conclude it is equally profitable or more profitable. If the price stays the same or decreases, then the profitability of winter wheat will decrease, because your making less money per acre beacuse there is less wheat.

C is wrong because it doesn't tell us anything about the price, cost, or, therefore, the profitability of either plant. B and D are wrong for similar reasons. E is wrong because it compares the profitability of spring wheat to other crops which is irrelevant. A is correct.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you would like me to clarify my points.

Thanks,

Jared

David@VeritasPrep wrote:Let's take this toward the more general and learn something from this question that we can apply to other questions.

With a "most logically completes the passage" question you can look to the words just before the blank to help you understand what type of question this is...In the Veritas Critical Reasoning 2 book we have a chart of the words that precede the blank and the type of questions they signify.

In this case you have the following leading up to the blank "Therefore, planting spring wheat will be more profitable than planting winter wheat, since___________." The word "since" is a classic premise word so the blank will be filled in with a premise. In this case we are trying to strengthen the link between the evidence, which is the fact that the winter wheat will have lower yields, and the conclusion that spring wheat will be more profitable.

If the word before the blank had been a conclusion word, such as "therefore" then you would have been looking for a conclusion. So this fill-in-the-blank question is really no different because it can be broken down in to the regular types: strengthen, weaken, inference, paradox, etc.

Good Luck!