Email from Homeowner to Fire Ant Research and Management Project Community Liaison August 6, 2:51 p.m. I need some advice about controlling fire ants. There are four fire ant mounds in my slightly less than 1⁄4 acre sized lot. I have pets and young children and so do not want to use toxic chemicals, but I need something quick and effective because my children have been stung repeatedly and are now afraid to play in the yard. One of my neighbors recommended that I pour boiling water on the ant mounds and another recommended cinnamon. Do you have any information on the effectiveness of either of these methods or on any other non-toxic methods?Email from Fire Ant Research and Management Project Community Liaison to Homeowner August 6, 4:45 p.m. Pouring approximately 3 gallons of boiling water on a red ant mound is effective at destroying the mound about 60% of the time. However, it is somewhat dangerous to do and will kill any plants, such as grass, near the mound. Although cinnamon has been recommended as a fire ant treatment by several gardening magazines, our field studies indicate that sprinkling cinnamon on fire ant mounds actually increases fire ant activity. We recommend the two-step method of treatment, which starts with spreading ant bait laced with tiny amounts of slow acting, minimally toxic ant poison all over the yard for long term fire ant control. In addition to being low in toxicity, this treatment is inexpensive, as 1/2 lb of ant bait, which costs $10 per pound, is sufficient to treat a 1⁄4 acre lot. However, since it takes several weeks for the workers to bring enough of the poisoned bait to the mounds to ensure that the queens are killed, this treatment takes 2-6 weeks to work. So the second step is to treat any mound that needs to be eliminated quickly with an individual mound treatment. Most commercial mound treatments are 90% or more effective. Commercial mound drench products are generally considered less potentially hazardous than granular or dust products.Email from Homeowner to Fire Ant Research and Management Project Community Liaison August 7, 10:51 a.m. Thank you for your informative response. I guess I will need to use at least some chemical treatment. I will try the minimally toxic ant bait and the boiling water.

Regarding Q3 part 1, "Treating individual mounds with a commercial mound drench is more likely to control fire ants long term than treating individual mounds with boiling water." - is this No because we know the effectivity of Commercial mound drench products (90% or more) whereas for boiling water, only chances (~60%) are mentioned? Bunuel part 2: "The Fire Ant Research and Management Project Community Liaison thinks that effective long-term fire ant control requires killing any queens in the fire ant mounds." - directly stated in the passage - "However, since it takes several weeks for the workers to bring enough of the poisoned bait to the mounds to ensure that the queens are killed" so Yes part 3: "If the fire ant mounds are treated with boiling water alone, the probability that all of the mounds reported by the homeowner will be eliminated is less than 15%." - boiling water has about 60% chance and we have 4 mounds so (60*60*60*60)/(100*100*100*100) = 12960000/100000000 i.e. 12.96% which is less than 15% so Yes.

The percentage difference (90% vs 60%) is irrelevant. The answer is No because neither method is stated to provide long-term control, so you cannot say one is better long-term than the other. Only the yard-wide bait is described as providing long-term control.

Email from Homeowner to Fire Ant Research and Management Project Commu : Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR)

	It is an effective method.
	It is somewhat effective, although not as effective as other methods.
	It is largely ineffective but harmless.
	It is ineffective and could possibly make the problem worse.
	It is impossible to determine the liaison's opinion from the email exchange.

YES	NO
		If 142 neighborhood lots, 80 of which are 1/4 acre lots and 62 of which are 1/8 acre lots, need to be treated with ant bait, the total cost of the ant bait would be less than $540.
		Pouring 3 gallons of boiling water on a fire ant mound will not destroy the mound approximately 40% of the time.
		The homeowner is more concerned about the cost of the fire ant treatment than about long term effectiveness.

Email from Homeowner to Fire Ant Research and Management Project Commu

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YES	NO
		Treating individual mounds with a commercial mound drench is more likely to control fire ants long term than treating individual mounds with boiling water.
		The Fire Ant Research and Management Project Community Liaison thinks that effective long-term fire ant control requires killing any queens in the fire ant mounds.
		If the fire ant mounds are treated with boiling water alone, the probability that all of the mounds reported by the homeowner will be eliminated is less than 15%.

GMAT Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR) Questions