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Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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25 Jul 2009, 00:44
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55% (hard)
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65% (01:53) correct 35% (02:01) wrong based on 662 sessions
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Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide, therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm.
Which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above?
(A) Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds for every crop that is currently grown commercially.
(B) Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage.
(C) Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds can be kept completely free of insect damage.
(D) Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds.
(E) Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past.
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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22 Apr 2016, 00:35
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johnnguyen2016 wrote:
Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide. Therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm.
Which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above?
A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds for every crop that is currently grown commercially
B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage
C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds can be kept completely free of insect damage
D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds
E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past
Experts please help clarify the logic behind this Answer. Thanks.
Premise: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage and at present they are costly, but the costs will reduce in future: Conclusion: These seeds will ve vastly used in the future.
We need to evaluate this conclusion. If we ask questions such as the yield of the seeds or the life of the crops etc. we can determine whether more farmers will use the seeds. Option D asks the same question about the yield. If the new seeds produce low crops, then farmers might not use them
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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20 Aug 2009, 07:04
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In this kind of question you're looking for an answer choice that if is true strengthen/weakens the argument and that if is false has weakens/strengthen the argument.
Premise 1: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage
Premise 2: The seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline
Premise 3: farmers planting them can use far less pesticide
Premise 4: most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide
Conclusion : their use is likely to become the norm
The author provides all the evidence to support that the use of the seeds will become a norm
A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds for every crop that is currently grown commercially
If this is false nothing hampers that the seeds become the norm. If this is true more seeds will become the norm.
A is out.
B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage.
if this is true with the new seeds farmers will need to put less pesticides; the amount decreases if this is false with the new seeds farmers will need to put less pesticides; the amount decreases even in a greater proportion. The effect is the same so B is out.
C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds can be kept completely free of insect damage.
if this is true, this strengthens the argument if this is false, we do not whether the current seeds are completely free of damage (in principle they are not) so no effect
D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds.
If this is true perhaps the farmers will want to continue use the current seeds because they produce greater crop per acre if this is false the argument is strengthen because farmers will want to use the new seeds.
Correct. Two different effects
E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past.
This does not address the new seeds so is irrelevant.
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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25 Jul 2009, 01:00
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IMO D
A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds For every crop that is currently grown commercially -Incorrect. Argument already saying "is likely to become the norm", that means it is still in initial phase of development. B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger Amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage. -Out of scope. The argument just says that "farmers planting them can use far less pesticide". Its "far less" then the normal amount used today, and people will prefer vegetables using less amount of pesticides than the normal amount C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage. -Argument already saying that its "highly resistant to insect damage". That means there is still chances, though may be very little, of insect damage. D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds. -Correct. If the new seeds generate significantly low crop yield, then it may become difficult to become a norm. E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have Greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past. -Irrelevant _________________
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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20 Aug 2009, 04:10
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I've looked that question again, however I did not understand the reasoning. Could someone explain the reasoning behind it ? Kudos will be appreciated to the good reasonings . Thanks _________________
Please give kudos if you enjoy the explanations that I have given. Thanks
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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10 Oct 2010, 07:39
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raghavs wrote:
Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide, therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm. which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above? A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds For every crop that is currently grown commercially B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger Amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage. C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage. D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds. E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have Greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past.
Conclusion: Therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm.
We need to find out what other information would likely be a deciding factor in arriving at the conclusion above. That additional information could strengthen or weaken the conclusion, either way it should impact the conclusion stated in the stimulus.
Scanning through the options above, option C and D can be narrowed down since the impact the conclusion in some way.
Option C -- Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage.
We have been told in the stimulus that the plants are highly resistant and hence this option is only questioning the premise and not the conclusion.
D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds.
If the crops were to become the norm then it should at least have the same about of yield. If for some reason the yield is less than what it is currently then these G.M crops could not become the norm. This is the correct option.
Option D.
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Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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11 Oct 2010, 00:09
Kudos to you for a good post. Please keep them coming. Also, how are you finding 1000 series? I did the first 16 tests and found them a bit unnecessarily challenging and sometimes pretty vague. But this one was good. Has there been any research on the 1000CR?
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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11 Oct 2010, 00:40
hi hemanthp sorry this Q is not from 1000 series.was mistakenly included in 1000 series.I too find 1000 series question is bit short and only few questions matches with real gmat questions.Do u have any good source for critical resoning questions.????
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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11 Oct 2010, 01:32
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I am doing Veritas which has about 200 CR questions and also has good theory to go with it. The level of toughness isn't awesome but decent. IT is good practice. I have discovered bellcurves.com recently which, for some thankful reasons, keeps on giving me free tests (i have taken 2 already) and I find their CR really good. I will continue taking as long as its free. I am going through ARCO, KAplan, mcGrawHill and other textbooks just for questions. Each book has about 50 and we can run through each one in half a day. this is better than going through some unknown source because there are explanations and answers. Once I exhaust this, then will go through 1000. But even browsing through the gmatclub forums is a good way to practice. Thank you.
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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12 Oct 2010, 02:05
raghavs wrote:
Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide, therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm. which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above? A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds For every crop that is currently grown commercially B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger Amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage. C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage. D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds. E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have Greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past.
P1- Scientists have engineered genetic seeds with Higher resistance to Pests. P2- This seeds will significantly reduce the Pesticides currently used. P3- Consumers prefer vegetables grown with lesser perticides. Conclusion - These seeds will become the norm.
Only option D clearly provides new information relevant to the argument to make a decision. One technique I find usefull in these questions is by answering hypothetically to the Answer choices and determining if the answer ( irrespective of positive or negative ) has any impact on the conclusion. Eg. If I answer No to Option D, then it typically strengthens the argument while for all other options it neither strengthens or weakens the argument.
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Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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12 Oct 2010, 04:43
D..
Since I am left with little time..which one gives best practice questions for CRs? Currently I have OG12, Kaplan & PR. I have done most of them in OG12..
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Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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25 Aug 2014, 23:15
perfectstranger wrote:
Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide, therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm. which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above? A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds For every crop that is currently grown commercially B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger Amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage. C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage. D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds. E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have Greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past. OA after explanations
Experts, kindly assist. My take is B because everything is revolving around B. I find the option as a weakner n strengthener. What is the OA ? _________________
[color=#007ec6]Would love to get kudos whenever it is due.. Though the mountain is steep, nevertheless once i reach the finishing point, i would enjoy the view [/color]....
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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25 Aug 2014, 23:48
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dshuvendu wrote:
perfectstranger wrote:
Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide, therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm. which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above? A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds For every crop that is currently grown commercially B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger Amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage. C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage. D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds. E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have Greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past. OA after explanations
Experts, kindly assist. My take is B because everything is revolving around B. I find the option as a weakner n strengthener. What is the OA ?
Hii mate, let me try to clarify my understanding.. i had also selected B at first,then i figured out that option B says,whether farmers at present use more pesticides than required..this option doesnt give us enough proof that they will continue to use more than enough pesticides for genetically engineered seeds as well..so whether there usage currently is more than or less than required is not enough to strenghthen or weaken the arguement..On the other hand,as per D,if the farm is not providing atleast equal productivity than before,then it creates enough doubts whether use of G.engineered seeds will become a norm..OA- D
Hope that clears Please consider KUDOS if my post helped..
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Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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25 Aug 2014, 23:57
vards wrote:
dshuvendu wrote:
perfectstranger wrote:
Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide, therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm. which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above? A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds For every crop that is currently grown commercially B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger Amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage. C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage. D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds. E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have Greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past. OA after explanations
Experts, kindly assist. My take is B because everything is revolving around B. I find the option as a weakner n strengthener. What is the OA ?
Hii mate, let me try to clarify my understanding.. i had also selected B at first,then i figured out that option B says,whether farmers at present use more pesticides than required..this option doesnt give us enough proof that they will continue to use more than enough pesticides for genetically engineered seeds as well..so whether there usage currently is more than or less than required is not enough to strenghthen or weaken the arguement..On the other hand,as per D,if the farm is not providing atleast equal productivity than before,then it creates enough doubts whether use of G.engineered seeds will become a norm..OA- D
Hope that clears Please consider KUDOS if my post helped..
Yes, indeed it helped me ! But, what is more worrying is how should I avoid this in real time. The scope is narrow for questions like this _________________
[color=#007ec6]Would love to get kudos whenever it is due.. Though the mountain is steep, nevertheless once i reach the finishing point, i would enjoy the view [/color]....
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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26 Aug 2014, 00:38
Hii again, Feeling good that my post helped
LOL..Believe me,i wanted to bang my head on table after realising that,i missed such a straight one..!making such mistakes in real exam costs plenty..!What i learned from this qstion when i solved tihs one,was that one must check the tense of answer choice as well..For matter of thought,I solved many questions after this question,and in few cases i was able to eliminate very attractive ans choice like this one,on the basis of tense error,which was used in some cases to fool us..! So,from here on u will also keep a check on such error and rather eliminate the ans choice easily..!Therefore u will end up avoiding this trap in real time..!
Cheers, Vardhaman
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ITS NOT OVER , UNTIL I WIN ! I CAN, AND I WILL .PERIOD.
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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26 Aug 2014, 01:26
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Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seeds to produce crops that are highly resistant to insect damage. Although these seeds currently cost more than conventional seeds, their cost is likely to decline. Moreover, farmers planting them can use far less pesticide, and most consumers prefer vegetables grown with less pesticide, therefore, for crops for which these seeds can be developed, their use is likely to become the norm.
Which of the following would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument above?
A. Whether plant scientists have developed insect-resistant seeds For every crop that is currently grown commercially >> Doesn't help to confirm the conclusion. B. Whether farmers typically use agricultural pesticides in larger Amounts than is necessary to prevent crop damage. >> Variance Yes/No. Both the cases doesn't help much to compare the pesticide usage with normal plants and with genetically modified plants. C. Whether plants grown from the new genetically engineered seeds Can be kept completely free of insect damage. >>Yes/No. Case with "No". We don't know how much can they save. It can be 80% or 40% of total crop.So not conclusive D. Whether seeds genetically engineered to produce insect-resistant crops generate significantly lower per acre crop yields than do currently used seeds. >> Correct. Case Yes: Oops then it put doubts on the conclusion that the seeds use is likely to become the norm. Case No: Cool. Then with all the above mentioned benefits, this is another adv, which rules out a factor that can weaken the arg. E. Whether most varieties of crops currently grown commercially have Greater natural resistance to insect damage than did similar varieties in the past. >> Doesn't help to confirm the conclusion.
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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26 Aug 2014, 02:00
vards wrote:
Hii again, Feeling good that my post helped
LOL..Believe me,i wanted to bang my head on table after realising that,i missed such a straight one..!making such mistakes in real exam costs plenty..!What i learned from this qstion when i solved tihs one,was that one must check the tense of answer choice as well..For matter of thought,I solved many questions after this question,and in few cases i was able to eliminate very attractive ans choice like this one,on the basis of tense error,which was used in some cases to fool us..! So,from here on u will also keep a check on such error and rather eliminate the ans choice easily..!Therefore u will end up avoiding this trap in real time..!
Cheers, Vardhaman
It would be great if you can share at least two questions where you applied the technique. Hope your technique goes viral ! Great to see such kind of observations and approach.
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[color=#007ec6]Would love to get kudos whenever it is due.. Though the mountain is steep, nevertheless once i reach the finishing point, i would enjoy the view [/color]....
Re: Plant scientists have been able to genetically engineer vegetable seed
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26 Aug 2014, 03:20
Hii again, Glad that i could be of some help.. I solved many CRs after this one,so wont really be able to sort out some..Sorry for that..But yes,if you solve quitesome questions on this forum,u will guarantedly come accross some..!jus keep watching the patterns of the answer choices.
Regards, Vardhaman
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ITS NOT OVER , UNTIL I WIN ! I CAN, AND I WILL .PERIOD.
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65% (01:53) correct 
