PT113 S4 Q25 - In ancient Mesopotamia

elijah12345

Why is the answer "B" instead of "A?"

Some historians believe that "the decline in wheat production was due to:"

1 Excessive irrigation
2 Lack of drainage
1 and #2 together lead to salt accumulation, problem #3

The way I understand it is that wheat production requires too much water, there isn't enough drainage, and salt builds up as a result of these two problems.

So with answer choice A, if barley requires less water than wheat, then does that strengthen the belief that they solved the too much water to produce problem (#1), the lack of drainage problem since less water needs to be drained (#2), and consequently salt accumulation is not a problem because the two problems causing it no longer are in the picture?

B, on the other hand, just accounts for salt buildup, but that is only a part of the problem because even if salt buildup doesn't matter anymore, we never accounted for too much water or the lack of irrigation.

Hopefully that makes sense and I appreciate any help.

LivinLaVidaLSAT

You’re right that problems 1 and 2 lead to problem 3. I think your misinterpretation of part of the stimulus led you astray with the answers. The stimulus says there was "excessive irrigation," so there was too much water. Nothing in the stimulus translates to "wheat production requires too much water.”

B (correct answer): Helps explain why barley increased and wheat declined. The salt accumulation isn’t as much of an issue for the barley compared to the wheat. It’s helpful to remember that the salt accumulation is the consequent problem of excessive irrigation and lack of drainage. So if the ultimate issue that resulted, salt accumulation, is addressed, you don't need to address the other two separately here.

A (wrong answer): This comparison is irrelevant to the historian’s argument. This answer implies wheat wasn’t receiving enough water; however, we know that there was actually too much water (excessive irrigation).