Sounds good but the written explanations for this question are now live inside of LSATMax just in case.
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sairaj87August 28, 2014
Why is c the correct answer???
NazSeptember 3, 2014
The conclusion of the argument is "there is no reason to fear that domestic commercial honey production will decline in the United States if local honeybees are displaced by Africanized honeybees."
Why? In Brazil, when a side-by-side comparison was conducted of Africanized honeybees and the native honeybees, the results showed that the Africanized bees were far superior honey producers.
Our correct answer is the one that either does not affect the argument, or strengthens it.
Answer choice (A): "The honeybees native to Brazil are not of the same variety as those most frequently used in the commercial beekeeping industry in the United States."
(A) weakens the argument by pointing out that the comparison done in Brazil between Africanized honeybees and native honeybees might not necessarily translate to the United States because the honeybees native to Brazil aren't the same as those most frequently used in the commercial beekeeping industry in the United States.
Answer choice (B): "Commercial honey production is far more complicated and expensive with Africanized honeybees than it is with the more docile honeybees common in the United States."
(B) weakens the argument by raising the cost of commercial honey production if local honeybees are displaced by Africanized honeybees in the United States. If the cost and complication would increase, there could be reason to fear that domestic honey production will decline in the United States.
Answer choice (C): "If Africanized honeybees replace local honeybees, certain types of ornamental trees will be less effectively pollinated."
(C) does not weaken the argument. The fact that certain types of ornamental trees will be less effectively pollinated is completely irrelevant to whether or not there is reason to fear domestic commercial honey production will decline in the United States if local honeybees are displaced by Africanized honeybees. Thus, since answer choice (C) does not weaken the argument, it is our correct answer.
Answer choice (D): "In the United States a significant proportion of the commercial honey supply comes from hobby beekeepers, many of whom are likely to abandon beekeeping with the influx of Africanized bees."
(D) weakens the argument by raising another consideration that could impact the amount of domestic commercial honey production. If a significant proportion of the commercial honey supply comes from hobby beekeepers, many of whom are likely to abandon beekeeping with the influx of Africanized bees, then there is a reason to fear that domestic commercial honey production will decline in the United States if local honeybees are displaced by Africanized honeybees.
Answer choice (E): "The area of Brazil where the comparative study was done is far better suited to the foraging habits of the Africanized honeybees than are most areas of the United States."
(E) weakens the argument by pointing out that the study done in Brazil might not necessarily translate in the United States because the area where the study was done was far better suited to the foraging habits of the Africanized honeybees than are most areas of the United States.
Hope that was helpful! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
JayDee8732August 12, 2017
I thought answer choice "C" weaken by pointing out that the trees they use to make the honey would not be pollinated. And eventually die off. Could you explain?
MehranAugust 13, 2017
Hi @JayDee8732, thanks for your post. There is no textual support for your assumption that "certain types of ornamental trees" are the trees used to make honey. Hope this helps!
DekeJuly 4, 2018
Jay, you made the same mistake i did, until i went back, the question is "Will NOT weaken". Don't work backwards to justify your answer, figure out why you were wrong instead...you'll learn more that way.
neel116August 8, 2018
I am still not quite sure why answer choice B is correct. Why would production decline just because the honey it is more expensive. You taught us not to assume anything so I still don't understand the correct answer choice.
DekeJanuary 7, 2019
B is NOT correct neel - C is.
RaviJanuary 7, 2019
@JayDee8732,
Be careful when reading the question stem! As @Deke astutely pointed out, the question is asking for an answer that WILL NOT weaken, so make sure that you're looking for what you're supposed to in the answer choices.
@Deke,
Great involvement in this thread! The fact that you're engaging with others is wonderful and will only help you master the material as you continue prepping for the LSAT. Keep it up, and let us know if you ever have any questions!
@neel116,
As @Deke mentioned, C is the correct answer. For more info on this question, please refer to Naz's explanation. If you have any questions after looking at her response, let us know, and we'll be happy to help!
eli918July 17, 2020
Hello, Please help me understand this...
(C) I understood that it weakens because we only deal with facts and there is no where in the passage that confirms or denies that ornamental tree pollination will affect honey production. But in general, pollination= honey made. Especially considering what if those certain types of ornamental trees make up a huge population of plants in a certain area that is key to honey making? All things unknown...
(D) I did not think this weakened the argument as no where states that beekeepers are needed for Africanized honeybees. And if they are superior honey producers, it would not matter if beekeepers stop keeping local bees...
VictoriaJuly 20, 2020
Hi @eli918,
Happy to help!
I think you've read a bit too much into answer choice (C). As you've said, we are only supposed to deal with the information that we've been provided with by the stimulus and the answer choices. Therefore, we can't assume that these types of ornamental trees have a significant impact on honey-making in any particular area unless we are provided with information that suggests as much.
What we can assume from this answer choice is that these trees are simply "ornamental." Therefore, it is unlikely that they would have any significant impact on honey production as they are more aesthetic than useful.
Overall, answer choice (C) is correct because we do not have enough information to suggest that this decrease in ornamental tree pollination weakens the author's conclusion that we should not fear that commercial honey production will decline. This answer is out of scope and does not impact the author's ability to draw their conclusion.
On the other hand, answer choice (D) tells us that a significant proportion of the commercial honey supply comes from hobby beekeepers. Based on the question stem, we must assume that the information provided to us in each answer choice is true.
We also learn that many hobby beekeepers are likely to abandon beekeeping with the influx of Africanized bees. If these beekeepers abandon beekeeping, then there will likely be a decline in domestic production as we know that they provide a significant proportion of the commercial honey supply. This undermines the author's conclusion that we should not be worried about domestic honey production.
Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.
eli918July 22, 2020
I see, thank you so much for your response
RaviJuly 24, 2020
@eli918, let us know if you have any other questions!
