Q7 - Farmer: Because water content

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Explain Discrepancy

Stimulus Breakdown:
Fact 1: best way to trap the correct amount of water in popcorn kernels is to have the sun dry the corn while the corn is still in the field.
Fact 2: I always dry the corn on a screen in a warm, dry room.

Answer Anticipation:
Given that "the best way is to sun dry in the field", why is it that this farmer "dries the corn on a screen in a warm, dry room"? There's no need to predict specifically what's going on, but we could imagine that maybe the indoor-on-a-screen method is GOOD ENOUGH when it comes to proper water content and SUPERIOR to sun dry in the field on some other metric. Simple prephrase could be "Why aren't you sun-drying / why are you screen drying indoors?"

Correct Answer:
A

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) Cool! Not what I anticipated, but here's why the farmer ISN'T sun drying. There's not much sun during popcorn drying season.

(B) Opposite. This makes us MORE likely to do sun drying.

(C) Close to being an answer. We don't know that screen-drying is one of the other methods that get acceptable levels. And we DO know that sun drying is BEST method, so we'd still be left wondering "Why not go with the best?"

(D) This is an apologist defense of mediocre popcorn. We want to know strategically why the farmer chose to eschew sun drying and use screen drying.

(E) This doesn't get at sun vs. screen at all.

Takeaway/Pattern: Ultimately, this paradox was "Given that the BEST way is method X, why is this dude doing method Y?" And the resolution was "because method X isn't an option for this dude."

#officialexplanation

[bbirdwell]

This is a fun little argument that has a great trap answer choice.

Our first task is to identify the discrepancy, best illustrated as two contradicting points.

1. The best way to dry corn is in sun, in the field.
2. The farmer dries his corn on a screen, in a room.

Now, if he knows that 1. is the best way, why does he use 2.? The correct choice will answer this question.

(A) Ah, yes! It's because there is no sun in his field! This explains it perfectly.

(B) This would perplex us even more. If it's the best AND cheapest method, why doesn't he do it?

(C) Hmm. Alright. There are several ways to do it. But should he do it the BEST way, especially if he knows what the best way is? This does not explain the issue.

(D) This doesn't get at the heart of the matter at all.

(E) Ditto.

The best explanation is given by answer choice (A).

Betchya didn't know that about popcorn! Isn't the LSAT full of fun facts?

[didi0504]

I was a bit confused b/c the author says "I ALWAYS dry the ears on a screen in a warm, dry room". answer (a) the region experiences a long, cloudy season...
I thought this answer choice only explains why he/she's drying the corn on a screen this season...but what about the previous seasons?

[tamwaiman]

Other seasons are irrelevant. Maybe other seasons are not harvest time.

[bbirdwell]

The language in the answer choice parallels the ALWAYS in the argument. It doesn't say "this year, there was a cloudy season." It says "the region experiences a long, cloudy season that begins..." We can take this to mean that this cloudiness is an annual occurrence.

This is much like saying "tropical places experience a long, rainy season that begins around Thanksgiving." This should be taken to be true each year.

[nflamel69]

I didn't know that there are special corns for popcorns until now.... wow..

[shirando21]

The language in the answer choice parallels the ALWAYS in the argument. It doesn't say "this year, there was a cloudy season." It says "the region experiences a long, cloudy season that begins..." We can take this to mean that this cloudiness is an annual occurrence.

This is much like saying "tropical places experience a long, rainy season that begins around Thanksgiving." This should be taken to be true each year.

Tricky~

[mswang7]

I feel like I shouldn't be confused by this question but I am. I understand part of why A is correct. Long cloudy season therefore no sun to do it the ideal way but why is is it relevant that this is before the popcorn fields would begin to dry?

Also if B said something like "Drying popcorn on a screen is cheaper than on the stalks" would it be the correct answer?

C is wrong because it doesn't explain why this farmer chose his method.
D is wrong because we're not concerned about when it doesn't dry
E Same as D

[AlizaS645]

I don't understand how A can be correct when it says "the region in which the farmer grows popcorn"

Popcorn is not grown anywhere - corn is grown and then popped - this is also something explicitly spoken about in the argument which says "the sun dries the corn" or "I always dry the ears". It does not talk about growing popcorn anywhere...

[smiller]

Apologies for our slow reply. A few questions slipped by us recently.

I feel like I shouldn't be confused by this question but I am. I understand part of why A is correct. Long cloudy season therefore no sun to do it the ideal way but why is is it relevant that this is before the popcorn fields would begin to dry?

Knowing that the cloudy season begins shortly before the popcorn would begin to dry tells us that the cloudy season might prevent the farmer from using the best drying method. If we were not told when the cloudy season occurs, we wouldn't know whether or not it affects the drying of the popcorn. What if the cloudy season occurs at a completely different time of year?

Also if B said something like "Drying popcorn on a screen is cheaper than on the stalks" would it be the correct answer?

Sure. Cost would be a good reason for the farmer to do it that way instead of the best way.

I don't understand how A can be correct when it says "the region in which the farmer grows popcorn"

Popcorn is not grown anywhere - corn is grown and then popped - this is also something explicitly spoken about in the argument which says "the sun dries the corn" or "I always dry the ears". It does not talk about growing popcorn anywhere...

Noticing this kind of difference can be very useful in LSAT LR, so it's great that you're reading the question this closely. That kind of shift in wording might make a difference when evaluating answers. Or it might not. In this case we have to ask, if choice (A) isn't correct, which answer is correct? As others have noted, there are serious problems with the other answer choices. They really don't help explain the discrepancy at all. In a case like this, we would set aside our initial suspicion about choice (A) mentioning "popcorn," and recognize that it does help to explain the farmer's choice.

Since we're reading closely, notice that the first sentence is about "what makes popcorn pop." In this sentence, does "popcorn" refer to the end product, or to the corn before it's popped? What is actually popping? One could argue that "popcorn" in this sentence refers to the unpopped corn. In that case, the way the word "popcorn" is used in choice (A) is consistent with the way it is used in the stimulus.

So far I'm approaching this from a perspective of LR strategy, which is really what we're most interested in. If that's not convincing, and you still think that the test writers used the word "popcorn" incorrectly, check the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Popcorn can refer to the corn before it is popped. Regardless, this is still a great question, so thanks for asking!