Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Nov 2007:30 AM PST
-08:30 AM PST
Learn what truly sets the UC Riverside MBA apart and how it helps in your professional growth
Nov 2211:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 23
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease. 
Nov 2510:00 AM EST
-11:00 AM EST
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.
14 Nov 2021, 08:17
Kudos
Bookmarks
sudeepmodak
Step 1: read the question
Quote:
So this is an INFERENCE question, which means the answer to the question is logically implied by what's in the passage, even if it's not explicitly spelled out for us. We want to say what is implied about precipitation in the tortoise's habitats.
Little bit of vocab needed there. 'Precipitation' means 'rain,' more or less.
The information about the weather and rain comes in the final paragraph. So what do we know about rain in these habitats? Well we know it's not frequent, as it's an 'arid' habitat. The last line of the passage says that the tortoises 'dig precipitation basins' in the soil and linger near one when rain is impending. So we know the tortoiss collect precipitation themselves.
Now I go to the answer choices:
Quote:
Nothing in the passage says that precipitation only falls one a year. If you thought this answer was correct, it might be because this bit: "adults can survive a year without access to water, they rely heavily on moisture in the vegetation consumed in spring," which does mention a 'year' and then 'spring' (which might be thought of as a 'single time in a year.' But that sentence does not mean precipitation only falls once a year.
Quote:
The only connection to resistance to pathogens we get pertains to the loss of native plants, not to precipitation itself.
Quote:
This is likely true, but is not in the passage. We're told the animals eat a lot of vegetation in spring, and they rely on that vegetation for moisture. But that's not about rainfall itself.
Quote:
Again, this is pertaining more to vegetation, not to precipitation itself.
Quote:
This seems right, as the tortoises dig basins in the soil (a basin is like a 'bowl'). So they dig a bowl, and sit by the bowl when rain is coming. Seems that they do that to collect rainwater.
[For debate, let me try to cobble together a justification for B, because something about it intrigues me.
The last paragraph makes clear tortoises get moisture from vegetation. If that vegetation gets lost, the tortoise has less resistance to pathogens. While the passage doesn't explicitly say that low resistance is due to the loss of moisture from the plants, the passage does use 'THOUGH' when talking about how the tortoises also dig precipitation basins.
Consider just the first part of the sentence:
"The loss of native plants to grazing livestock and invasive plant species, then, may lessen the tortoise’s resistance to pathogens, though [something else can happen]."
Per the logic of 'though,' doesn't it seem that the 'something else' is something that can INCREASE resistance to pathogens? It seems the 'though' has a few possible logical functions in that clause: to show that there is something mitigating the loss of native plants ("though recent laws against livestock grazing in tortoise habits have been passed"); to show that while the loss of native plants does some harm it also does some good ("though many of the vegetation are also highly poisonous to tortoises"); to show the loss of vegetation might actually increase resistance to pathogens ("though some scientists think the native plants actually do harm to the tortoise's immune system"); or, to show that the tortoises have another way of getting resistance to pathogens.
The only one that 'tortoises dig precipitation basins' seems to fit would be that last category.
Something about the tortoises digging precipitation bins must qualify the fact that the loss of native plants lessens the tortoise's resistance to pathogens.
This is the best argument I could make for B. And I'm not entirely sure how to break that chain].
18 Dec 2021, 01:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
Official Explanation
6. The passage implies that a mature female desert tortoise
Explanation
Female desert tortoises, specifically, are discussed in the second half of the first paragraph. The correct answer will be one that is supported by the facts given in that paragraph, without requiring us to make additional assumptions.
(A) CORRECT. The passage states that the female desert tortoise lays the eggs, but the young tortoises are entirely neglected by adults (including the mother). This is equivalent to saying that she has little contact with her offspring.
(B) The passage does state that the average mature female lays a few egg annually, though only when adequate forage is available, and that only 5% of young reach adulthood (though the length of time to reach adulthood is not specified). This is not enough information to allow us to calculate with certainty how many young may survive a decade. For example, we have no idea in how many laying seasons adequate forage is available, nor do we know whether it takes, perhaps, 15 years to reach adulthood.
(C) The passage does not compare male and female desert tortoises. The third paragraph only compares hatchlings, who emerge wearing soft shells, and juveniles with their delicate shells, to mature tortoises and their hardened shells.
(D) The passage does not compare male and female desert tortoises. There is nothing in the passage discussing the reproductive rate of male desert tortoises.
(E) The passage does not compare male and female desert tortoises. The passage states that female desert tortoises reach reproductive maturity at fifteen to twenty years of age, but does not tell us when male desert tortoises reach maturity.
Answer: A
Explanation
Female desert tortoises, specifically, are discussed in the second half of the first paragraph. The correct answer will be one that is supported by the facts given in that paragraph, without requiring us to make additional assumptions.
(A) CORRECT. The passage states that the female desert tortoise lays the eggs, but the young tortoises are entirely neglected by adults (including the mother). This is equivalent to saying that she has little contact with her offspring.
(B) The passage does state that the average mature female lays a few egg annually, though only when adequate forage is available, and that only 5% of young reach adulthood (though the length of time to reach adulthood is not specified). This is not enough information to allow us to calculate with certainty how many young may survive a decade. For example, we have no idea in how many laying seasons adequate forage is available, nor do we know whether it takes, perhaps, 15 years to reach adulthood.
(C) The passage does not compare male and female desert tortoises. The third paragraph only compares hatchlings, who emerge wearing soft shells, and juveniles with their delicate shells, to mature tortoises and their hardened shells.
(D) The passage does not compare male and female desert tortoises. There is nothing in the passage discussing the reproductive rate of male desert tortoises.
(E) The passage does not compare male and female desert tortoises. The passage states that female desert tortoises reach reproductive maturity at fifteen to twenty years of age, but does not tell us when male desert tortoises reach maturity.
Answer: A
18 Dec 2021, 01:49
Kudos
Bookmarks
Official Explanation
7. The author uses the adjective “precious” in the sixth sentence of the first paragraph most likely to emphasize that:
Explanation
A question about the use of a specific word is a Specific Detail question. Understanding an author’s word choice requires understanding not only the meaning of the word itself, but also the context in which it is used. The author mentions precious eggs within a discussion of the desert tortoise’s low reproductive potential. The preceding text mention several impediments to egg production: females must reach a mature age before laying eggs, they will not lay eggs unless adequate forage is available, and when they do produce eggs, only a few are produced each year.
(A) CORRECT. The author’s word choice emphasizes the low egg-laying rate of female desert tortoises.
(B) Although it is common knowledge in the real world that eggs are generally delicate, the passage does not actually discuss the fragility of the eggshells.
(C) The passage does not discuss the economic value of the desert tortoise eggs.
(D) The passage does not indicate whether female tortoises protect their eggs.
(E) Although predators of desert tortoise eggs are mentioned in the subsequent paragraph, the use of precious in the first paragraph is not intended to indicate the value of the eggs to the predators, but rather that the number of eggs laid by female desert tortoises is limited, even before some are destroyed by predators.
Answer: A
Explanation
A question about the use of a specific word is a Specific Detail question. Understanding an author’s word choice requires understanding not only the meaning of the word itself, but also the context in which it is used. The author mentions precious eggs within a discussion of the desert tortoise’s low reproductive potential. The preceding text mention several impediments to egg production: females must reach a mature age before laying eggs, they will not lay eggs unless adequate forage is available, and when they do produce eggs, only a few are produced each year.
(A) CORRECT. The author’s word choice emphasizes the low egg-laying rate of female desert tortoises.
(B) Although it is common knowledge in the real world that eggs are generally delicate, the passage does not actually discuss the fragility of the eggshells.
(C) The passage does not discuss the economic value of the desert tortoise eggs.
(D) The passage does not indicate whether female tortoises protect their eggs.
(E) Although predators of desert tortoise eggs are mentioned in the subsequent paragraph, the use of precious in the first paragraph is not intended to indicate the value of the eggs to the predators, but rather that the number of eggs laid by female desert tortoises is limited, even before some are destroyed by predators.
Answer: A
