Need help on this Logical Reasoning problem

[JesusProject]

One cannot prepare a good meal from bad food, produce good food from bad soil, maintain good soil without good farming, or have good farminig without a  culture that places value on the proper maintenance of all its natural resources so that needed supplies are always available.

Which one of the following can be properly inferred from rosen's statement?

A) The creation of good meals depends on both natural and cultural conditions.

C) Good soil is a prerequisite of good farming.
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A is the correct answer, but why is C wrong? Does prerequisite indicate sufficient or necessary?

My diagram looks like this:

GM--GFD--GS--GF--C

[armada]

I got confused trying to diagram this but it just made it more confusing.  I think C was wrong because the stimulus says that you cannot maintain good soil without good farming which pretty much means that good farming is necessary to maintain good soil. C seemed to have it backwards. 

[ssilver0210]

We're told that you need good farming to maintain good soil. So, we can infer that good farming is a prerequisite to maintaining good soil. Nowhere are we told that you need to maintain good soil in order to have good farming, so we cannot infer that good soil is a prerequisite to good farming.

As for choice A, culture effects the farming, which effects the soil, which effects the food, which effects the creation of good meals. So, the creation of good meals depends on both natural conditions (farming, soil, etc) and cultural conditions (a culture that places value on the proper maintenance of all its natural resources).

[JesusProject]

i see, is the word "prerequisite" generally understood as the necessary?

[ssilver0210]

A prerequisite in this argument (and generally speaking) simply means that one thing is necessary before something else can occur. So, for example, according to this argument, good farming is necessary before you can maintain good soil.

This, however, should not be confused with the statement that good farming is sufficient for maintaining good soil. Good farming, along with other factors, may be needed to maintain the soil. So the good farming is necessary, but may not be sufficient.

[JesusProject]

thankyou very much. all makes sense now.

[ssilver0210]

Not a problem.  Glad I could help

[EarlCat]

One cannot prepare a good meal from bad food, produce good food from bad soil, maintain good soil without good farming, or have good farminig without a  culture that places value on the proper maintenance of all its natural resources so that needed supplies are always available.

Which one of the following can be properly inferred from rosen's statement?

A) The creation of good meals depends on both natural and cultural conditions.

C) Good soil is a prerequisite of good farming.
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A is the correct answer, but why is C wrong? Does prerequisite indicate sufficient or necessary?

My diagram looks like this:

GM--GFD--GS--GF--C

Your diagram is right.  Just understand that everything on the right is necessary for what is on the left.  GFD, GS, GF, and C are all necessary for GM.  GF and C are necessary for GS, and C is necessary for GF and so-on.

C says "Good soil is a prerequisite of good farming." but your diagram says GS-->GF, which means, "Good farming is a prerequisite for good soil."

[argo]

A prerequisite in this argument (and generally speaking) simply means that one thing is necessary before something else can occur. So, for example, according to this argument, good farming is necessary before you can maintain good soil.

This, however, should not be confused with the statement that good farming is sufficient for maintaining good soil. Good farming, along with other factors, may be needed to maintain the soil. So the good farming is necessary, but may not be sufficient.

Oh, really?  GF -> GS (Good Farming IS sufficient for maintaining Good Soil) according to the stimulus.  Answer choice C confuses sufficient and necessary.  Besides, even if it were correct, it would be a restatement of one of the premises, NOT an inference.

So, if you interpret "prerequisite" to mean "necessary", you are dead wrong on this explanation.  If you interpret it as "sufficient" then it is not an inference.

In an absence of a clear definition of the word "prerequisite" I, personally, in the interest of time, would be inclined to discard any answer choice that contains it.  But this is my personal hack, which may or may not work in every case.

[mentor]

Oh, really?  GF -> GS (Good Farming IS sufficient for maintaining Good Soil) according to the stimulus.  Answer choice C confuses sufficient and necessary.  Besides, even if it were correct, it would be a restatement of one of the premises, NOT an inference.

So, if you interpret "prerequisite" to mean "necessary", you are dead wrong on this explanation.  If you interpret it as "sufficient" then it is not an inference.

In an absence of a clear definition of the word "prerequisite" I, personally, in the interest of time, would be inclined to discard any answer choice that contains it.  But this is my personal hack, which may or may not work in every case.

GF in that inference means 'good food.'  If you 'cannot maintain good soil without good farming' as per the stimulus good farming is necessary for good soil.

Prerequisite means 'necessary.'

The whole chain:

GMeal --> GFood --> GSoil --> GFarm --> Natural, Cultural conditions

or, a shorter explanation:

EarlCat is right and you are wrong.