PT 27.S1.Q12 - clothes made form natural fibers

Giant Panda

Dear Sir,

Today I am on problem set 3-MSS- and encountered a problem during my blank review.

If you can, please check out the question: https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-27-section-1-question-12/

But in general, the question goes:

cotton in cloth is straightened artfully. Natural cotton is curled so when washed under high temperature, it shrinks (because it is currently in straightened form and heat triggers it back to its natural state). And the other kind of material-poly-doesn't shrink.

And here comes the correct answer's inference: poly material is straight in its natural state.

When I was answering the question I eliminated all of them, and for the last one I wrote: "the premise does not give any support for the state of the poly material's natural state", and I mean how can you do such a inference?

Or is it that for the fewest question, there is the possibility that there may be a time when you can only work a problem by elimination?

Thoughts?

Jonathan Wang

There is never a question where the only way you can answer it is by elimination.

The premises tell you that washing something under high temperatures puts it back into its natural state. Nothing happens to polyester when washed under high heat. So, you can infer that whatever polyester's natural state is, that's how it was originally given to you. Since it didn't shrink (we know from the cotton example that shrinking means going from straight to curled), we can therefore deduce that polyester is straight in its natural state.