LR Question 17 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Ostrich farming requires far less acreage than cattle…
QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported
FACTS:
- Cow startup costs: Large herd, a bull, two acres per cow.
- Ostrich startup costs: Two pairs of yearling ostriches and an acre of land.
- Ostrich farming requires fewer acres.
- Ostriches reproduce faster.
- Ostrich start costs are higher.
ANALYSIS: The only factors in startup costs are animals and land. Ostriches require less land, yet ostrich startup costs are higher. That must mean that two pairs of ostriches cost more than a herd of cows and a bull.
Note that the stimulus tells us the land is “similar”, so land differences aren’t a factor.
___________
- CORRECT. See the analysis above. Only animals and land are factors, and ostriches require less land. So the animals must cost more.
- Not so. It sounds like Ostrich farming may be a better source of income, but that doesn’t mean cows are a poor investment.
- The facts support the opposite of this. Cows require two acres per cow, whereas you can fit four ostriches on an acre. It sounds like cows do require more feed.
- Not so. The stimulus said that ostrich farming can eventually bring in 5x the money. So, that’s in the long run. That also describes the max possibility. It’s possible average incomes in both fields are closer.
- Not necessarily. Startup costs are higher, but you can still run a profit with high costs.
More Resources for Most Strongly Supported Questions
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Most Strongly Supported questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers most strongly supported questions.
Hi LSAT Hacks team,
I just wanted to leave a quick suggestion – it would be great if you guys could also let us know the level of difficulty for each question, so we can assess how we are doing :)
Hi Anna,
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll forward it to Graeme and it might be something he adds to explanations in the future.
Hey Graeme, how do we know that the start up cost is the same as the starting requirements? I.e. how do we know that the food to feed the ostriches are significantly higher, and that’s why ostrich farming is more expensive in terms of its start up cost?
Your point is well-taken, but it’s important to keep in mind that this is a most strongly supported question. We’re looking for the best of five answers, and (A), unlike the other answer choices, can be supported via one or two common sense assumptions outside the letter of the stimulus. We’re told that animals and land are “enough to begin ostrich farming”, which does seem to imply at the very least that these are the primary costs. Although we’re not told what’s sufficient for cattle ranching (we’re just told what’s necessary), the fact that the stimulus lists these costs of both types of ranching and immediately says the start-up costs for ostrich farming are greater does suggest that these are the major costs of both kinds of farming. It’s not explicit, but it’s hard to argue that this isn’t a common sense assumption to make given what’s actually presented in the stimulus.
The other 4 answer choices, as Graeme shows above, either flat-out contradict the stimulus or would require us to assume or create a lot of information that is not at all in the stimulus.