Self-study
Any good garden compost may appropriately be used for soil drainage and fertility. ███ ████ ███████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ███████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██ ████ █████ ██ ██████ ████████ ███████ ████ █████ █ ██████ ███████ █████ ██████ ███ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ █████ █████ ████ ███ ███████ ██████ ███ ███ ████████████ ███████████
Summary
The best compost is dark brown and is made of 40-60% organic matter, but any good compost can be used for soil drainage and fertility. However, if it smells strongly of ammonia, that means that the organic matter in the compost hasn’t sufficiently decomposed and the compost should not be used for drainage and fertility.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
The decomposition of a compost’s organic material is an important factor in that compost’s usefulness.
If compost cannot be used for soil drainage or fertility, it is not good compost.
If compost smells strongly of ammonia, it is not good compost.
15.
Which one of the following ██ ████ ████████ █████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██████
a
Compost that is ██ ███████ ███████ ██████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████████ █████████████
Unsupported. The stimulus does not draw any connection between the percentage of the compost’s organic matter and its rate of decomposition. It only tells us that a compost that smells like ammonia has not sufficiently decomposed.
b
If compost is ████ ████ ██ ███████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██ ███ ████ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ ███ ████ ██████ ████ █████████
Unsupported. We know that the compost described in this answer choice is not the best compost. However, we do not know that compost that is not the best will actually worsen or harm the soil.
c
If compost is ██ ███████ ███████ ██████ ███ ████ ███████ ██████ ██ ████████████ ███████████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ █████
Unsupported. Neither characteristic is sufficient for good compost. The stimulus doesn't suggest that 50% organic matter is sufficient to be the best compost, and being sufficiently decomposed is a necessary condition for good compost—not a sufficient condition.
d
In the best ██████ ████████ ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███████████
Unsupported. The stimulus suggests nothing about completely decomposed organic matter. In any good compost, and therefore in the best compost, any organic matter must be merely sufficiently decomposed.
e
Compost that is ████ █████ ██ █████ ███ █████ █ ██████ ███████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ████████
Strongly supported. If compost emits a strong ammonia smell, it should not be used for soil drainage or fertility. If compost should not be used for soil drainage or fertility, it is not good compost. So if compost emits a strong ammonia smell, it is not good compost.