LR Drill Set 2, Question 6
Orange trees are very vulnerable to damage from(29 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(9 more words not shown)
- AHarsh winters tend(11 more words not shown)
- BOrange trees grown(15 more words not shown)
- CFertilizer used by(10 more words not shown)
- DThe roots of(17 more words not shown)
- EHarsh winters tend(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe the harsh winter removes the weakest trees.
The report is about fruit per producing tree. If a cold winter leaves only the strongest producers, that surviving group could average more oranges even while the orchard loses trees. We aren't told that this is what happens. It's a possible way to make sense of cold-sensitive trees yielding more fruit after a harsh winter.
There could be a different benefit as well. Perhaps exposure to cold changes how the trees produce fruit. I'd want evidence before believing that, but it gives us another kind of explanation to consider.
What we’re looking for
The question asks which answer does not help explain the result, so we should expect four useful accounts. Don't insist on finding my weak-tree prediction. Ask of each choice: how could this make fruit production higher after a harsh winter despite the trees' vulnerability to cold? A new fact that just describes another yield difference won't necessarily answer why this one occurs.
Working the answers
- A
Fewer pests can mean less damage to orange growth. The cold might harm the trees and also remove something that harms them. That benefit can help explain higher output from the producing trees afterward. The explanation doesn't require the cold to have no harmful effects on the trees.
- BCorrect
This gives us another comparison, between trees in milder and cooler climates. It doesn't explain what causes the greater yield or why a harsh winter is followed by higher production. “Trees in cooler places also produce more” is not the same as giving a mechanism that resolves the apparent puzzle.
- C
More effective fertilizer gives the trees a benefit after the harsh winter. That can help them produce more fruit even though the cold itself can damage them. This supplies a connection from the type of winter to a change that improves growth.
- D
The weeds compete with orange trees for nutrients. If harsh winters kill roots that mild winters leave alive, there can be less competition for those nutrients afterward. The orange trees then have access to resources the weeds would otherwise consume. Cold can be bad for the trees while its effect on their competitors helps explain the reported output.
- E
This links the winter to a helpful condition later: unusually rainy spring weather. Since orange trees need substantial water to produce fruit, that rain can improve output. The harsh winter needn't directly improve the trees. It can be associated with a spring condition that does, giving us another route to the result.
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