PT124.S4.P4.Q20

PrepTest 124 - Section 4 - Passage 4 - Question 20

Hide analysis
P1

Sometimes there is no more effective means of controlling an agricultural pest than giving free rein to its natural predators. █ ████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ████████ █████ █ ████ █████ ██████████ ███ ██ ███████████ ██████████ ██ █ █████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ █████████████ ███

Intro topic · Controlling cyclamen mites using Typhlodromus mites
████████ █████ ██████ ██████████ ███████ ████ █████████ █████████ ██████████ ██ █ ██████████ █████ ███████ █████ █████████ ███ █████ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████████ ████████ ██████ █████ ███ ███████ ██████ █████ ███
Problem · Infestation of strawberry plants by cyclamen mites
████████████ █████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ██████ ███ ██████ █████ ███████ ██████ ███ ████████ ████ ████████████ ███ ████ ████ ████ ████████ █████████████ ████████ ███████

Solution · Typhlodromus mites
Attack in second year of infestation, when cyclamen mite populations reach damaging levels
P2

████████████ ████ ███ █████████████ ██ █ ████████ ██ ███████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ █████████ ███

Introduce explanation · Several reasons why Typhlodromus is a good solution
Reason 1: Voracious appetite
███ ██████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███████████████████ ████ ██ ████████████ ██ █████ ████████████ ████ ███████ ████ ███████ ████████ ████████ █████ ███ █████ ████ ███ ███ ████ ███ ████ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████ ████████████ ████ █████ ████████████ ███ ███ ██ █████ ████ ███ ███ ███ █████ ██ ███ █████ ███
Reason 2 · Typhlodromus population grows as quickly a cyclamen's
Both reproduce by parthenogenesis
████████ █████████ ██ ████████████ ████████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ███████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ████ █████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ ██ █████████████ ██████ ███████ ████ ████████ ████ ███████████ ███████ ██ █ ███ ███████████ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███████ ███ █████████ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████ ██████ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████ ███
Reasons 3 and 4 · Reproductive timing and alternative sources of food
Reason 3: Typhlodromus only reproduces when cyclamen prey is available. Reason 4: Typhlodromus has other food sources, allowing it to survive when cyclamen mites are scarce.
█████ █████████ █████ ████ ████████████ ███████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██████ █████ █████████ ████ ███████ ████ ████████████

Draw similarity · Typhlodromus is similar to other predators that control prey
Because of reasons 1-4
P3

██████████ ███████████ ████ ████████ ███ ██████████ ██ ████████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ████████ █████ ██ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ████████ ███ ████ ██████ █ ██████ █████ ███ ████ █████████████ ██ ███████ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███████████ ████ █████ ███ █████████ ███████ ███ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ████████ █████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███████████ ██ ████████ █████ ████████ ███ ██ █████ ██████ ████ █████████████ ███ █████ ███████████ ████████ █████████████ ████████ ███████████ ██ █████████████ ███████

Support solution · Experiments correlate presence of Typhlodromus with lower cyclamen populations
P4

████████ █████████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ █ █████ ████ ██ █████ █████ █ █████████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ████████████ ███████████ ███

Implications of experiment · Pesticide use can cause more harm than good...
...if pesticides kill predators like Typhlodromus
███ ███████ ████ ███████ ██ █████ █████████ ██ █████████████ █████ ████████ █████ ████ ███████ ████████ ██████ ████ █████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ██████ ████ ██████ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ████████ ████ ███████████ █████ ██ ████████ ██ ██ █████████ █████████ ███ ████████ ███████████ ███████ █████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ ████████ █████ ████ █████ ██ █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ████ ██ █████ █████████

Reinforce implications · Where pesticide (parathion) used, Typhlodromus absent and cyclamen populations higher
Again, correlation between presence of Typhlodromus and lower cyclamen populations
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
Show answer
20.

Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████

a

Control of agricultural █████ ██ ████ ███████████ ███ ██████ ████████████ ███████ ███ ███ ██ ███████████ ███████ █████ ██████████ ███ ████ █████████ ████ ████ ███████ ███ ██████

This is too broad to be supported. The author never indicates that control of agricultural pests is, in general, most effectively accomplished without pesticides. Rather, the author points out that sometimes allowing natural predators to keep pests in control is most effective.

5%
b

Experimental verification is █████████ ██ █████████████ ███ █████████████ ██ ███████ ████████ ██ ████████████ ██████

This doesn’t capture the author’s view that sometimes allowing predators to eat pests is the most effective way to keep those pests under control. In addition, the author never suggests that we need experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of natural controls of pests. The fact the author discusses an experiment does not imply she thinks they’re necessary.

1%
c

The relationship between ████████████ ███ ████████ █████ ████████████ ███ ███████ █████████ ███ ████ █ ██████████ ██ ████████████ █████ ██ ██████

This best captures the author’s point, which is that sometimes agricultural pests are best controlled by allowing natural predators of the pests to rein free. She expresses this point at the beginning of P1 and supports it in the rest of the passage using the example of cyclamen mites, which are best kept in check by allowing Typhlodromus mites to control their population.

89%
d

Predation by Typhlodromus ██ █████████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ ████ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ███████

The author never suggests that Typhlodromus mites are necessary to control cyclamen mites. They are more effective than pesticides, but that doesn’t imply they’re necessary. Also, the author uses the cyclamen and Typhlodromus example to support a broader point — that sometimes agricultural pests are best controlled by allowing natural predators of the pests to rein free.

4%
e

Similarity in mode ███ ██████ ██ ████████████ ██ ████ ███████ ████████████ ███████████ ██ ███████ ███████████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███████

This is one fact mentioned as part of the explanation for Typhlodromus’s ability to keep cyclamen in check. But it’s too narrow to be the main point of the whole passage.

1%

Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.

It takes about five minutes.

Take the free diagnostic
More free LSAT prep: Sample LSAT questions Full-length diagnostic & practice test All free LSAT resources

Confirm action

Are you sure?