All potatoes naturally contain solanine

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Weak15% picked this

   The proportion of a potato's solanine that is contained in its skin is larger in wild potatoes

   This probably strengthens somewhat, because it's making it sound even more like a wild potato keeps most of its solanine in its skin. But even still, there is some solanine left in the peeled wild potato. Is it at least as safe to eat as a domesticated potato? Are there any other ingredients in a wild potato that make it less safe to eat? Since this answer doesn't rule out those concerns, it doesn't prove the conclusion is true beyond any doubt.

   15%
2. B

   No Impact8% picked this

   The amount of solanine concentrated in the skin of a wild potato is large enough by

   We already know that a wild potato is poisonous and that it keeps most of its solanine in its skin. This answer is telling us that amount in the skin by itself is enough to be poisonous. Do we care? No, we care about what solanine is left in the peeled wild potato. Is the amount of solanine found in the non-skin part of a wild potato large enough by itself to be poisonous? Are there any other ingredients in a wild potato that make it less safe to eat? Since this answer doesn't rule out those concerns, it doesn't prove the conclusion is true beyond any doubt.

   8%
3. C

   Correct74% picked this

   There is no more solanine in a peeled wild potato than in an unpeeled domesticated potato

   Why this is right

   This answer is surprising, because it only proves that wild potatoes are at least as safe when it comes to solanine. It doesn't actually address the loose end that there could be other ingredients in a wild potato that make it less safe. That's pretty frustrating on LSAT's part, either as a sloppy oversight or as an intentional betrayal of what this question stem is supposedly asking us for. We talked earlier through this possible type of objection: suppose domesticated only have 10g of solanine, whereas wild have 100g of solanine. If so, then peeling a wild potato (i.e. removing its skin, where most of the solanine is) would mean that there is at most 49g of solanine left, but that could still be more solanine than what's in a domesticated potato. This answer squashes that line of objection. We can't say that what's left in the peeled wild potato is still more than what's in the unpeeled domesticated potato. This answer says that when it comes to solanine, peeled wild potato is at least as low as unpeeled domesticated So it "proves" the conclusion that when it comes to being safe to eat, peeled wild potato is at least as safe as unpeeled domesticated

   Skill tested: Sufficient Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   74%
4. D

   Weakens (if anything)3% picked this

   There are no poisonous substances in domesticated potatoes other

   This rules out the idea that domesticated potatoes have something else unsafe in them. It leaves open the possibility that wild potatoes have something else unsafe in them. So, if anything, this takes us farther away from proving that peeled wild potatoes are at least as safe as domesticated potatoes.

   3%
5. E

   No Impact0% picked this

   Wild potatoes are generally much smaller than

   The conclusion is about comparing wild / domesticated potatoes of the same size, so the natural variation in sizes is irrelevant to assessing this conclusion.

   0%