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Some animals, such as dolphins, dogs, and African grey [#permalink]
 11 Mar 2009, 11:02
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Some animals, such as dolphins, dogs, and African grey parrots, seem to exhibit cognitive functions typically associated with higher-order primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. Some parrots, for example, have vocabularies of hundreds of words that they can string together in a comprehensible syntax. This clearly shows that humans and primates are not the only animals capable of using language to communicate. One parrot, named Alex, has been known to ask to be petted or kissed and will exhibit aggression if the gesture offered is not the specific one requested. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above? A.Dolphins can be trained to assist divers in ocean rescues. B.Gorillas in captivity often learn hand signals for food and water. C.Dogs are capable of sensing their owners' moods and often exhibit concern if they sense sadness. D.Chimpanzees can memorize long sequences of key punches on machines that dispense food. E.Alex does not exhibit aggression when offered a gesture that he specifically requested. is it C?
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
11 Mar 2009, 15:00
E will certainly strengthen the conclusion. The stem tells us that Alex becomes aggressive if a requested gesture is not proffered. Taken on its own, this is evidence of nothing - maybe Alex always becomes aggressive after requesting a gesture, regardless of whether it's offered or not. From Alex's aggression alone, we don't know whether Alex truly understands the meaning of his communication; Alex might have no more understanding of language than an mp3 player (an aggressive one!). If E could be proven, that would provide evidence that Alex understands the meaning of his communication, and can associate his communication with the response it receives. Answers A, C and D have a much more tenuous relationship with the conclusion of the passage, which is about learning language, and not about learning other tasks, and D is especially irrelevant because chimpanzees are specifically excluded from the group of animals the author is discussing. Answer B only confirms what the passage tells us: gorillas are capable of using some form of language.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
11 Mar 2009, 15:04
The conclusion says that all animals such as dogs, parrots are capable of using language for communication. A.Dolphins can be trained to assist divers in ocean rescues. - Can be taught - does not explicitly say anything about dolphins communicating back. B.Gorillas in captivity often learn hand signals for food and water. - Gorillas are primates, as per the argument.C.Dogs are capable of sensing their owners' moods and often exhibit concern if they sense sadness. Perfect. D.Chimpanzees can memorize long sequences of key punches on machines that dispense food. Again, primates.
E.Alex does not exhibit aggression when offered a gesture that he specifically requested. This is implicit in the argument.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
11 Mar 2009, 15:18
IanStewart wrote: E will certainly strengthen the conclusion. The stem tells us that Alex becomes aggressive if a requested gesture is not proffered. Taken on its own, this is evidence of nothing - maybe Alex always becomes aggressive after requesting a gesture, regardless of whether it's offered or not. From Alex's aggression alone, we don't know whether Alex truly understands the meaning of his communication; Alex might have no more understanding of language than an mp3 player (an aggressive one!). If E could be proven, that would provide evidence that Alex understands the meaning of his communication, and can associate his communication with the response it receives.
Answers A, C and D have a much more tenuous relationship with the conclusion of the passage, which is about learning language, and not about learning other tasks, and D is especially irrelevant because chimpanzees are specifically excluded from the group of animals the author is discussing. Answer B only confirms what the passage tells us: gorillas are capable of using some form of language. Can you please elaborate on this Ian: The stem states that Alex requests a specific gesture and gets annoyed if that specific gesture is not offered. Based on this how can you decipher that Alex does not truly understand the meaning of his communication ? If Alex were to uniformly express aggression for any kind of response - wouldn't that be mentioned in the argument ? - pradeep
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
11 Mar 2009, 16:06
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pbanavara wrote: Can you please elaborate on this Ian:
The stem states that Alex requests a specific gesture and gets annoyed if that specific gesture is not offered. Based on this how can you decipher that Alex does not truly understand the meaning of his communication ? If Alex were to uniformly express aggression for any kind of response - wouldn't that be mentioned in the argument ?
If the argument needs to be strengthened, which is what the question asks us to do, then certainly something hasn't been mentioned in the argument. Here, what hasn't been mentioned is how Alex behaves when he does receive what he asks for. We have no information about that (without using answer choice E), and in GMAT CR questions, you certainly can't make assumptions about anything not mentioned in the passage.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
11 Mar 2009, 18:17
IanStewart wrote: pbanavara wrote: Can you please elaborate on this Ian:
The stem states that Alex requests a specific gesture and gets annoyed if that specific gesture is not offered. Based on this how can you decipher that Alex does not truly understand the meaning of his communication ? If Alex were to uniformly express aggression for any kind of response - wouldn't that be mentioned in the argument ?
If the argument needs to be strengthened, which is what the question asks us to do, then certainly something hasn't been mentioned in the argument. Here, what hasn't been mentioned is how Alex behaves when he does receive what he asks for. We have no information about that (without using answer choice E), and in GMAT CR questions, you certainly can't make assumptions about anything not mentioned in the passage. Thanks Ian, much appreciated.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
11 Mar 2009, 20:23
nitya34 wrote: Some animals, such as dolphins, dogs, and African grey parrots, seem to exhibit cognitive functions typically associated with higher-order primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. Some parrots, for example, have vocabularies of hundreds of words that they can string together in a comprehensible syntax. This clearly shows that humans and primates are not the only animals capable of using language to communicate. One parrot, named Alex, has been known to ask to be petted or kissed and will exhibit aggression if the gesture offered is not the specific one requested.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?
A.Dolphins can be trained to assist divers in ocean rescues.
B.Gorillas in captivity often learn hand signals for food and water.
C.Dogs are capable of sensing their owners' moods and often exhibit concern if they sense
sadness.
D.Chimpanzees can memorize long sequences of key punches on machines that dispense food.
E.Alex does not exhibit aggression when offered a gesture that he specifically requested.
is it C? I also think of E. I did POE to find the answer: B and D are out because chimpanzees & gorillas are considered higher-order primates. Dogs are capable of doing something but that is not characterisitc of higher-order primates, so C is out. Dolphins are trained so NO "cognitive functions" - A is out.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
11 Mar 2009, 21:55
OA-E I eliminated the Choices related to Primates and then picked up wrong one
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
12 Mar 2009, 01:09
Though im late but E definitely
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
17 Mar 2009, 09:06
Nitya,
What is the source of the question?
I find one problem in E - It is a mistaken negation of the last sentence of the argument. Ideally the correct answer should be the contra positive of the original argument
or is it that I'm missing something?
Cheers,
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
18 Mar 2009, 09:07
Good one fell for C. But as Ian said E is the one that is perfect.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
21 Mar 2009, 02:46
The conclusion is about "using language in communication by some animals". Then, the last sentence provides example of that communication.
E, correctly, validates that example.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
27 Oct 2009, 02:52
nitya34 wrote: Some animals, such as dolphins, dogs, and African grey parrots, seem to exhibit cognitive functions typically associated with higher-order primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. Some parrots, for example, have vocabularies of hundreds of words that they can string together in a comprehensible syntax. This clearly shows that humans and primates are not the only animals capable of using language to communicate. One parrot, named Alex, has been known to ask to be petted or kissed and will exhibit aggression if the gesture offered is not the specific one requested.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?
A.Dolphins can be trained to assist divers in ocean rescues.
B.Gorillas in captivity often learn hand signals for food and water.
C.Dogs are capable of sensing their owners' moods and often exhibit concern if they sense
sadness.
D.Chimpanzees can memorize long sequences of key punches on machines that dispense food.
E.Alex does not exhibit aggression when offered a gesture that he specifically requested.
is it C? We must identify the conclusion first :" humans and primates are not the only animals capable of using language to communicate". So other option except E are out because mention nothing of the capability of using language
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans [#permalink]
27 Oct 2009, 12:54
good one. only E supports the conclusion.
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Re: CR-Primates and Humans
[#permalink]
27 Oct 2009, 12:54
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