PrepTest 126 · Section 1 · Question 13

Grandpa's Strange Watering Plan

Grandpa's garden has old tomato plants and tiny new seedlings. The old plants give way more tomatoes than anything else in the garden. So Lulu is confused. 'Grandpa, you pour all the fancy plant food on the seedlings. You barely look at the big plants. Why ignore the ones that give us the most?' Marcus jumps in with theories. 'Maybe he likes small things. Maybe he forgot.' Grandpa chuckles and wipes his glasses. 'The old plants are set in their ways,' he says. 'Feed them or don't, they give the same pile of tomatoes every summer. The seedlings are still deciding how big to grow. A scoop of food there changes everything.' Lulu writes it down: 'Feed what can change, not what is biggest.' Biscuit digs a hole near the seedlings, which helps nobody.

Grandpa's old tomato plants produce far more tomatoes than any other plants in his garden. Yet Grandpa spends nearly all his plant food on the young seedlings, and he judges how useful a scoop of plant food is only by how many seedlings it reaches.

Suppose each choice is accurate. Which one best clears up the puzzle above?

The Case of the Ignored Regulars

In a fictional dispute, a bakery's owner was sued by her partner. 'Our regular customers buy the most bread,' the partner argued, 'yet she spends every coupon on first-time visitors. That is foolish!' Mr. Whitfield represented the owner. 'Your Honor, both facts are true. The regulars buy the most. And the coupons go only to newcomers. But my client believes the regulars buy the same loaf every morning no matter what. Coupons cannot change their habits. Newcomers are still choosing.' The judge nodded. 'So the facts shake hands. Effort goes where it can move something.' The partner dropped the suit and bought a croissant.