December 2000 LSAT Section 2 Question 19

The author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about the conclusions drawn on th...

Batman on August 17, 2015

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I got the right answer by eliminating others. Could you please why the choice (A) is the one the author would be most likely agree with? Correct me if I'm wrong. Here is my thought: I guess the (A) refers to "a weedy grass" on line 31. According to the passage, I think that author explicitly states that "a weedy grass grows much better with plentiful CO2 than do three other grasses," not with photosynthetic rates of that weed. Why do we logically infer the increased level of CO2 is in proportion to the increased level of photosynthetic rates on the second paragraph, not the first paragraph? Thanks,

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Naz on September 2, 2015

I'm sorry, I'm not exactly sure what you are asking me specifically in your second paragraph, however, let's discuss why answer choice (A) is the correct answer!

We are asked which one of the following statements about the conclusions drawn on the basis of the research on plant growth mentioned in he first paragraph of the passage would the author be most likely to agree with.

Answer choice (A) states: "The conclusions are correct in suggesting that increased levels of CO2 will increase the photosynthetic rates of certain plants."

Well, we know that the first paragraph does make this conclusion: "some research has suggested that elevated CO2 levels could enhance the photosynthetic rates of plants," (lines 6-8).

Now, does the author agree with this? Yes. Remember that photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert light to energy in order to grow and/or flourish.

In the second paragraph, the author points out studies that confirm the conclusion mentioned in (A) and then expounds on how she feels about the actual detrimental meaning of this conclusion, e.g. "...a number of recent studies confirm that plant growth would be generally enhanced in an atmosphere rich in CO2," (16-18); she states that these studies "suggest that increased CO2 would differentially increase the growth rate of different species of plants, which could eventually result in decreased agricultural yields," (Lines 18-21).

Thus, the author agrees with the statement that increased levels of CO2 will increase the photosynthetic rates of certain plants (answer choice A), even though she does not agree that this is, in fact, a beneficial effect.

Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Batman on September 3, 2015

Thanks a lot!!!^^