Sneha2021 wrote:
GMATNinja KarishmaB 1. In the highlighted text, "uncertainties" refers to
(C) some tree species' tendency to deviate from the norm
why c is incorrect?
And trees in extremely dry regions may go a year or two without adding any rings, thereby introducing uncertainties into the count.
If the trees go without adding any rings, they are deviating from the normal behaviour (norm), so it should explain uncertainty.
Question 1.1. In the highlighted text, "uncertainties" refers to
(A) dendrochronologists' failure to consider the prevalence of erratic weather patterns
(B) inconsistencies introduced because of changes in methodology
(C) some tree species' tendency to deviate from the norm
(D) the lack of detectable variation in trees with complacent rings
(E) the lack of perfect correlation between the number of a tree's rings and its age
Paragraph 1 explains the norm. Paragra[ph 2 talks about deviations from the norm.
And trees in extremely dry regions may go a year or two without adding any rings, thereby introducing uncertainties into the count.
The author mentions the word 'uncertainties' to talk about how trees in dry region may not add any rings in some years causing uncertainty in the count. So there are 100 rings but does it mean that tree was 100 years old when it died? What if in some years it did not add any rings and we have not accounted for those in our count of 100? This is what 'uncertainties' refers to.
Hence answer is (E).
Why is it not (C)?
We are given that "Certain species sometimes add more than one ring in a single year, when growth halts temporarily and then starts again" which is another deviation but the word 'uncertainties' is not used to talk about this. We need to give the exact function of the word.