June 2010 LSAT Section 4 Question 12

Many nurseries sell fruit trees that they label "miniature." Not all nurseries, however, use this term in the same wa...

Malik on August 23 at 04:41AM

Both B and E Seem Right?

Hi, I debated B and E, and even after reviewing. B: Some of the nurseries have correctly labelled nectarine trees of the Stark Sweet Melody variety only if the variety is unsuitable for growing in a tub or a pot. So I know that if the variety is unsuitable for growing in a tub or pot, then this means it is not a miniature. In B it says, if that is the case then some of the nurseries correctly labeled the nectarine trees. Well I know that some of the nurseries did not label it as a miniature. Therefore, some nurseries have indeed correctly labelled the nectarine trees. Is this not true? I would be wrong if B was referring specifically to those nurseries that labelled it "miniature" but it just generally said "nurseries" and we know some did not label them as miniature, which is where my confusion comes from. Oh but as I write this, I guess we don't know if they correctly labelled it, maybe they labelled it something other than a miniature and that's still wrong? Let me see if E doesn't have that problem. E: Unless the Stark Sweet Melody variety of nectarine tree is suitable for growing in a tub or a pot, some nurseries mislabel this variety of tree. E is saying, some nurseries mislabel the variety of tree unless it is suitable for growing in a tub or a pot. If it does not grow in a tub or pot, then definitely some mislabel it because some label it as "miniature". Now E sort of implies that if it does grow in a tub or pot then nurseries don't mislabel it, but that isn't true because some label it as not a miniature, so it is still being mislabeled. Is E only referring to those nurseries that label it as "miniature"? How would I have known that? This was my original confusion. So what is my question: Although I can see now why B is wrong and E is right, the original question I was going to ask was when these answer choices refer to the nurseries who labelled it, are they only referring to nurseries who label it as a "miniature"? It seems like they do because of what E implies and because most people interpret B as being the opposite of what we are looking for? I considered the nurseries that did not label them as miniatures as reading the answer choices and it seemed to mess me up

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Emil-Kunkin on August 26 at 04:53PM

Let's dissect what B is actually saying. B tells us that it is necessary for the variety to be unsuitable for a small pot in order for some of the nurseries to have labeled their plants correctly. Does this make sense based on the passage?

I don't think so. There is nothing in the passage that would guarantee that none of the plants are correctly labeled unless they are unsuitable. In fact, it seems from the passage that we clearly have some that are incorrectly labeled, and some that are correct. B is saying that unless the variety is suitable, then none are labeled correctly.

E says something very different. E tells us that unless the trees are suitable then some are mislabeled. That is, if the trees are not suitable then some of the ones labeled as mini are incorrect, which is directly supported by the passage.

Neither is clear about which of the nurseries they are referring to, so we should just interpret this as written. B is talking about some of the nurseries so this mean that in order to be correct, the passage must guarantee what is said about at least one nursery.

Malik on August 28 at 10:59PM

Thanks that makes sense! This question and another question made me realize I misunderstood the word "unless" on the LSAT. I dove deep into it and learned an LSAT lesson, now the plan is not to repeat the same mistake.

I also watched a reading comp lesson that you recorded probably a while ago, your advice and approach to the test is great! Thanks for all you do

Emil-Kunkin on September 3 at 09:00PM

Great to hear! I'm a big fan of adopting approaches from as many different sources as you find helpful so I love to hear that- definitely keep looking at the live class recordings if you find them helpful.