Poppy petals function to attract

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Speculative9% picked this

   Pollinating insects are not attracted to wilted

   This would be worth keeping on a first pass, just in case we don't find something more provably true. This is suggestively true, in the sense that petals attract pollinating insects, and once a flower is pollinated (has had its pollen removed or has had another flower's pollen deposited on it) the petals wilt. So it seems plausible that wilted flowers would signal to a pollinating insect, "Oh, let's find another poppy. This one's already been pollinated". But we can't derive that from anything in this paragraph, so this loses out to the more-derivable correct answer.

   9%
2. B

   Correct65% picked this

   Even if cut poppies are given all necessary nutrients, their petals will tend to wilt

   Why this is right

   This aligns with our prediction about combining the 4th and 2nd sentences. Once we cut poppies, they will always have their petals wilt within one or two days. There is a substance that gets released into a poppy (either when it's pollinated or when it's cut) that "causes its petals to wilt within one or two days". So, yes, cut poppies' petals will tend to wilt within a few days. The part of this answer about "even if given all necessary nutrients" is just trying to make this answer less appealing. Can we really say that "even in cases where they're given all necessary nutrients" that they'll wilt? Yes. The 2nd sentence didn't qualify (i.e. hedge) its wording in any way. When the substance is released, the petals wilt within a couple days, regardless of the nutrient situation apparently.

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

   65%
3. C

   Strong / Out of Scope: all plants2% picked this

   Flowers of all plants release the substance that causes wilting when they are cut, although the

   We've only received information about poppies and their petals. We don't have any support for extrapolating these facts to other plants.

   2%
4. D

   Out of Scope: pollen prevents absorption10% picked this

   The pollen on pollinated poppy flowers prevents their petals from absorbing the nutrients carried to

   This answer is talking about all kinds of new stuff. We never were told that having pollen on petals did anything! This answer claims that they prevent absorption of nutrients? The idea of "nutrients carried to petals by stems" is wholly new. We don't cover how petals get nourished or talk about nutrients at all. LSAC apparently thinks some students will try to speculate a backstory for why the pollinated poppy petals wilt, whereas the unpollinated ones don't. This answer would potentially provide a story that fits that distinction. But we're not supposed to be inventing stories to explain the facts (unless every other answer is even less supportable than that). We start from a mentality of "which of these must be true / which could be derived from the provided info"?

   10%
5. E

   Too Strong: unable14% picked this

   Poppy plants are unable to draw nutrients from soil or water after the substance that causes

   The information only tells us that a poppy's petals will wilt once the wilting substance has been released. We don't have a way to support the extreme notion that the plant becomes unable to draw nutrients from soil or water. Just because a tree loses its leaves, we don't assume it's suddenly unable to draw nutrients from the ground. Similarly, just because a flower's petals wilt, it doesn't signal that the flower can no longer draw in any nutrients.

   14%