Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 1, Question 16 (Most Strongly Supported)
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- These questions ask what the statements most support.
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The question
To speed curing, some concrete suppliers now blend a synthetic additive called Veltrin into their mix. Builders' associations have criticized Veltrin even though slabs poured from blended mix match ordinary slabs in strength and finish. Blended mix draws a surface mold that ordinary mix does not, so blended slabs are coated with a fungicide, and traces of that coating can persist in the cured slab. In heavy concentrations, the fungicide can irritate the lungs of crews who saw through a slab. Suppliers do check blended slabs for fungicide residue.
16. Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?
- (A)Builders' associations have no sound basis for criticizing using Veltrin.
- (B)A slab poured from Veltrin-blended mix may be treated as safe to saw only if a residue check has cleared it of heavy fungicide concentrations.
- (C)A slab poured from Veltrin-blended mix is every bit as safe for a crew to saw through as a slab poured from ordinary unblended mix.
- (D)Blending Veltrin into a concrete mix carries no advantage.
- (E)Heavy fungicide concentrations are the only hazard that slabs poured from Veltrin-blended mix present.
BWhy (B) is correct
The stimulus lays out one real hazard: fungicide traces left in a cured slab can irritate the lungs of a crew that saws through it once concentrations get heavy. It also says suppliers do check blended slabs for that residue. Put those 2 facts together and the only safe conclusion is a conditional one: a slab counts as safe to saw once, and only once, a check has ruled out heavy fungicide levels, exactly what (B) says.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) is too strong. Builders' associations have a real basis for criticizing Veltrin, the lung irritation risk, even though the slabs match ordinary ones in strength and finish.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) overreaches. Matching strength and finish plus a residue check doesn't add up to equal safety, since the coating is a difference ordinary mix doesn't carry.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) is contradicted directly, since the whole reason suppliers add Veltrin is to speed curing, which is plainly an advantage.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) goes further than the passage supports: heavy fungicide concentrations are the hazard named here, not a proven complete list of every risk a blended slab could pose.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Most Strongly Supported. These questions ask what the statements most support.
How do I get better at Most Strongly Supported questions?
Predict the answer before reading the choices. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
