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Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to people by deer ti

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NamanPro

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13 Mar 2023, 21:13

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Hi Experts,

The thing where I went wrong is I didn't quite understand the "transmitted" part of the first sentence. do I have to assume that humans can get Lyme disease only by ticks feeding on them and no other way? as it is not clearly mentioned

if I take this assumption I am able to get to the correct ans but not otherwise. Am I missing something?

ARSarkar

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30 Jul 2023, 10:26

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To get infected and to transmit the Lyme disease to someone else - the process is same . The deer tick needs to feed on a host.
Process to get infected :
When it, in its uninfected condition, feeds on an infected host, it may get infected.

Process to transmit:

The infected tick if feeds on human, then the disease is transmitted to the human.

How do we know that only by feeding it can transmit the disease? It can transmit when it comes in toch to humans. Please explain.

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07 Nov 2023, 02:59

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Where is it written that the disease can be transmitted only by deer tick feeding on humans/people? Maybe there is some other way the disease gets transmitted (may be just by coming in contact)?

Raman109

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10 Dec 2023, 07:18

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Understanding the argumnent -

Which of the following most logically completes the argument ?

Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to people by deer ticks. - Fact
Deer ticks are almost never born infected with the bacterium, but they can pick it up from feeding on an infected host in any of the tick's three successive stage of development: larva, nymph, adult. - Fact
Once infected, a tick remains infected through any subsequent developmental stages, but since a tick feeds on only one host in each stage, it follows that ______________ - Facts, and we need to find an inference.

A. People can be infected only by being bitten by a tick that is either in larval stage or in the nymph stage - "only" is hyperbolic. Wrong.

B. People cannot be infected by a tick that picked up the Lyme disease bacterium in the adult stage - This can be logically deduced from the facts stated in the argument.

C. It is not possible for a person to be infected by a tick that is in the nymph stage or by a tick that was infected with the bacterium while in the nymph stage - Opposite of what is stated in the argument.

D. People infected with the Lyme disease bacterium cannot transmit bacterium to adult deer ticks - We don't know. Out of scope.

E. Only deer ticks that are adults can transmit the Lyme disease bacterium to people - Only hyperbolic, and it is the opposite of what the argument states. Ticks can transmit at any stage and not just in adults.

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21 Dec 2023, 08:58

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parampreet1997

Where is it written that the disease can be transmitted only by deer tick feeding on humans/people? Maybe there is some other way the disease gets transmitted (may be just by coming in contact)?

We've discussed this issue here -- check it out and let us know if you have any further questions!

KarishmaB

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28 Jun 2024, 01:14

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Michael KC Chen

Which of the following most logically completes the argument ?

Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to people by deer ticks. Deer ticks are almost never born infected with the bacterium, but they can pick it up from feeding on an infected host in any of the tick's three successive stage of development: larva, nymph, adult. Once infected, a tick remains infected through any subsequent developmental stages, but since a tick feeds on only one host in each stage, it follows that ______________

A. People can be infected only by being bitten by a tick that is either in larval stage or in the nymph stage

B. People cannot be infected by a tick that picked up the Lyme disease bacterium in the adult stage

C. It is not possible for a person to be infected by a tick that is in the nymph stage or by a tick that was infected with the bacterium while in the nymph stage

D. People infected with the Lyme disease bacterium cannot transmit bacterium to adult deer ticks

E. Only deer ticks that are adults can transmit the Lyme disease bacterium to people

"Lyme disease" Strengthen Question
"Lyme disease" Evaluate Argument Question

Show Spoiler

Does anyone know how to draw the logical picture of this question ?
I went with POE but still got this question incorrect ....
A/E are out for sure....
have no idea about the rest 3 ....

Thanks ...

This is an inference kind of question. We need to find what we can conclude from the given premises.

Premises:
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to people by deer ticks.
Deer ticks pick up bacterium from feeding on an infected host in any of the tick's three successive stage of development: larva, nymph, adult.
Once infected, a tick remains infected through any subsequent developmental stages,
a tick feeds on only one host in each stage

Conclusion: _____________________

The hint is given in what is immediately before the black: "Once infected, a tick remains infected through any subsequent developmental stages, but since a tick feeds on only one host in each stage, it follows that ______________

A. People can be infected only by being bitten by a tick that is either in larval stage or in the nymph stage

Nothing in the passage suggests that people cannot be bitten in the tick's adult stage.

B. People cannot be infected by a tick that picked up the Lyme disease bacterium in the adult stage

If it feeds on only one host per stage and if it picked up the bacterium in the adult stage from the infected host, then people will not be infected by it because it has already been fed in the adult stage (it feeds on only one host per stage). So this works.

C. It is not possible for a person to be infected by a tick that is in the nymph stage or by a tick that was infected with the bacterium while in the nymph stage

Again no such information abotu nymph stage.

D. People infected with the Lyme disease bacterium cannot transmit bacterium to adult deer ticks

No info on whether people can infect adult deer ticks with the bacterium.

E. Only deer ticks that are adults can transmit the Lyme disease bacterium to people

No such info given.

Answer (B)

egmat

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06 Oct 2025, 06:52

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Here's how to approach this:

Step 1: Map out what we know

Let's organize the facts clearly:

Ticks have 3 life stages: larva → nymph → adult
Ticks are almost never born infected
Ticks can pick up the bacterium at any stage by feeding on an infected host
Once infected, a tick stays infected through all later stages
Critical constraint: A tick feeds only once per stage

Step 2: Think about the timing

Notice the key constraint here – each tick feeds exactly once in each developmental stage. This means:

A tick gets 3 feeding opportunities total in its entire life (one per stage)
If a tick becomes infected during a feeding, it has used up that stage's feeding opportunity
The tick can only transmit the disease in future feedings, not the feeding where it got infected

Step 3: Focus on the adult stage

Here's the critical insight you need to see: What happens if a tick picks up the bacterium while feeding as an adult?

Think about it:

Adult is the final developmental stage (no more stages after this)
The tick feeds only once during the adult stage
If the tick gets infected while feeding as an adult, that feeding is already happening/done
The tick has no future feeding opportunities left

So a tick that picks up the bacterium in the adult stage cannot transmit it to people – it has already used its one adult feeding opportunity!

Step 4: Evaluate the answer

Choice B captures this perfectly: "People cannot be infected by a tick that picked up the Lyme disease bacterium in the adult stage."

Why the wrong answers don't work:

A & E: These wrongly restrict which stage ticks can transmit disease. An adult tick that got infected as a larva or nymph can still infect people
C: Too restrictive – nymph-stage ticks can definitely transmit disease
D: Brings in reverse transmission (people to ticks), which isn't discussed in the passage

Answer: B

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For a deeper understanding of how to systematically identify what "must be true" in inference questions like this one, and to learn the pattern recognition framework that helps you spot these logical constraints quickly, check out the complete solution on Neuron by e-GMAT. You'll also find detailed breakdowns of common traps in "logically completes" questions and how to avoid them. You can explore comprehensive solutions for other GMAT official questions on Neuron with practice quizzes and detailed analytics to strengthen your Critical Reasoning skills systematically.

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