kindly post in the explanations

E for me.

C is contradicting the argument.

In E, if there are competing maize eating insects that feed on milkweed plants, then even these insects would be dieing. This will help evaluate the argument.

exactly Even i was confused between C and E.

Actually only one thing is that ,what if there are enough milkweeds then inspite of competition they leed to death of caterpillars !!!

C is foolproof .
Suggestions welcome

C.

the ques asks if the farmer is putting the monarch butterflies at risk...
E is slightly weaker in the sense that even if maize-eating insects compete with monarch butterflies, it does not completely eliminate the risk of the latter feeding and dying.

But is C not contradicting the argument "Caterpillars of monarch butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed leaves. When these
caterpillars are fed milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from modified maize plants, they
die."

To me C does not provide additional info to help evaluate the argument.....or is it that the argument "when these vaterpillers are fed......" means that these caterpillers are not always fed milkweek leaves?

I am loosing my sense here.

C. I would stick with the scope when its confusing. So I ignore "other" insects.
What is OA?

I got C too.

If the CP are feeding during the same time, they are put at risk

If the CP are not feeding at the same time, they are NOT at risk.

Note that the author talks of caterpillars dying from feeding on the leaves laden with pollen but in conclusion, says, all monarch butterflies are in danger. There is a scope shift in the argument. Therefore, to evaluate his conclusion, D sounds the best.

Many prefer C, but I think C has no effect on the argument. The time caterpillars actively feeing does not matter. The argument cares only the cases that caterpillars feeds "milkweed leaves dusted with pollen", and the pollen is claimed to be responsible for the risk of butterflies.

How about the leaves?

Only E says something about the leaves! and E is the best
_________________

Wouldn't using the "variance test" from Powerscore CR Bible on E mean - Yes the insects compete and use up all the pollen first, therefore the caterpillars don't die. Conversely, No, they don't compete and don't use the pollen therefore the caterpillars will use and die.

Someone please explain !!!

" Caterpillars of monarch butterflies feed EXCLUSIVELY on milkweed leaves "

Which could mean that caterpillar's feed is LIMITED TO MILKWEED LEAVES.

If caterpillars have to LIVE, obviously they have to eat ONLY MILKWEED LEAVES all day all season, since caterpillar's feed is LIMITED TO MILKWEED .

How Option C is right ?

Also please explain in option C , How "actively feeding" is different from "feeding" in the context.

Posted from my mobile device

Argument Analysis :

Certain genetically modified strains of maize produce a powerful natural insecticide. A background information.
The insecticide occurs throughout the plant, including its pollen. A background information.
Maize pollen is dispersed by the wind and frequently blows onto milkweed plants that grow near maize fields. A background information. Milkweed plants – new actor in the argument
Caterpillars of monarch butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed leaves. A background information. Caterpillars – one more actor related to Milkweed plants.
When these caterpillars are fed milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from modified maize plants, they die. A background information – impact of modified strains of maize
Therefore, by using genetically modified maize, farmers put monarch butterflies at risk. Conclusion.

Assumptions -
a. Maize pollen is dispersed by the wind and frequently blows onto milkweed plants.
Assumes that pollens stay as well and wind is not strong enough to disperse pollens in short span of time or may be rain followed by wind to remove the pollens.
b. Caterpillars of monarch butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed leaves:
To remove / reduce the impact of pollens, Milkweed does not produce any natural defense such as chemical etc., which may affect caterpillars.
c. Caterpillars of monarch butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed leaves : maize and milkweed are grown in the same season hence pollens impact the caterpillar feeds.
d. Amount of pollens are significantly enough to impact the caterpillars.

Question stem :
Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in order to evaluate the argument?

A. Whether the natural insecticide is as effective against maize-eating insects as commercial insecticides typically used on maize are – Argument is about impact on caterpillar
B. Whether the pollen of genetically modified maize contains as much insecticide as other parts of these plants – So what only pollens are dispersed
C. Whether monarch butterfly caterpillars are actively feeding during the part of the growing season when maize is releasing pollen –
Yes : then argument is strengthened
No : then argument is weakened

D. Whether insects that feed on genetically modified maize plants are likely to be killed by insecticide from the plants pollen – So what .Impact on other insects is not good enough to conclude about caterpillars
E. Whether any maize-eating insects compete with monarch caterpillars for the leaves of milkweed plants growing near maize fields – Let them compete …where is impact of pollen?

Option C

Conclusion - "Genetically modified maize put monarch caterpillars and in turn monarch butterflies at risk"
Option A - irrelevant
Option B - irrelevant
Option C - keep
Option D - irrelevant
Option E - keep
Apply variance test
Option C - Yes --> In this case maize pollen is the probable cause of death. Substantiates the conclusion
No --> In this case there might be some other causes of death (change of weather etc). Weakens the conclusion
Option E - Yes --> Lets us suppose insect ABC competes with monarch caterpillar. This can have multiple scenarios, what is the number of leaves are substantially more than the combined population of monarch caterpillar and ABC. This hardly effects the conclusion. Other Scenario could be combined population of ABC and monarch caterpillar is equal to the number of leaves. In the event ABC does not die from eating the leaves and monarch caterpillar dies we cannot say leaves are not responsible, maybe anatomy of ABC is different from monarch caterpillar.
From the above information I did not even check for No since option E can be eliminated.
Option C looks best in the choices given.

I like C. Undermines the conclusion if true.

Straight C.

If monarch butterflies are not ACTIVELY FEEDING during the time maize releases pollen then they won't feed on pollen and thus won't die.

Thus weakening the argument.

The crux of this argument is that genetically modified maize kills the caterpillars which eat the leaves dusted with poisonous pollen.

The only answer that works in our favor to decide if genetically modified maize will hurt the caterpillars is to find out if the leaves are harmful during the butterfly spawning season. Answer C will help us. If we find out that yes, the caterpillars feed when the pollen release is at its peak, we can conclude that g-mod maize is hazardous to monarch butterflies. If not, it does not cause the caterpillars as much harm as the statement claims.

IMO E is also contender.
If caterpillars face competition, they die because of competition rather than eating pollen. So it will be helpful to know option E.
Can someone please explain logic behind eliminating E?

Conclusion: Farmers are putting monarch butterflies at risk by using genetically modified maize.


A. Whether the natural insecticide is as effective against maize-eating insects as commercial insecticides typically used on maize are. Comparison with commercial insecticides is out of scope of the passage.
B. Whether the pollen of genetically modified maize contains as much insecticide as other parts of these plants. These Caterpillars feed exclusively on pollen laden milkweed leaves. Concentration of insecticide on other parts of maize is immaterial.
C. Whether monarch butterfly caterpillars are actively feeding during the part of the growing season when maize is releasing pollen. This is the best choice.If the caterpillars are actively feeding during pollination time then modified maize is a risk to caterpillars.
D. Whether insects that feed on genetically modified maize plants are likely to be killed by insecticide from the plant's pollen. We are exclusively talking about monarch butterflies. Knowing about insects in general will not help us evaluate the argument.
E. Whether any maize-eating insects compete with monarch caterpillars for the leaves of milkweed plants growing near maize fields. If some maize-eating eating insects are competing with monarch caterpillar for leaves of milkweed plants, then we can say that probably maize-eating insects are a risk to caterpillars and its got nothing to do with farmers. This option is very vague.

Dear experts, can you please help to decide between (C) and (E)?

Let's apply the Variance Test from PowerScore CR Bible.

C. Whether monarch butterfly caterpillars (MBC) are actively feeding during the part of the growing season when maize is releasing pollen

Yes, MBC are actively feeding and we know that they die from pollen.
No, MBC are not feeding, so maybe they do not die?

Good candidate.

E. Whether any maize-eating insects compete with monarch caterpillars for the leaves of milkweed plants growing near maize fields

Yes, there are some hungry insects that compete with MBC for leaves. So, they probably are another cause of MBC deaths. Still, MBCs can die from pollen, but hungry insects play a role, too.

No, there are no hungry insects that compete with MBC for leaves. So, MBCs dies from pollen.

(E) appears to be a good option, too.

I am confused with the above and will greatly appreciate your help.