ruturajp wrote:
The climbing season of 2006 was the deadliest on record for those attempting to conquer Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, as more people perished attempting to reach the summit in 2006 than in any other year. Almost all of these deaths occurred in the unforgiving “death-zone” above 26,000 feet. Oddly, though, the 2006 season enjoyed exceptionally ideal climbing weather compared to more typical years.
Which of the following, if true, best explains the apparent contradiction in the above passage?
(A) The warmer the weather, the more likely it is that crevasses (deep holes) will open up unexpectedly in the ice.
(B) In 2006, fewer climbing teams than usual were forced to turn back at some point during the ascent prior to reaching the "death-zone."
(C) In recent years, more amateurs have attempted to climb the world's great peaks, including Everest.
(D) In 2006, authorities suspended climbs due to inclement weather on fewer days than the average for more typical years.
(E) Although the 2006 season overall enjoyed ideal weather conditions, the one major storm was one of the worst on record.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
The mountaineering experts have asserted that exceptionally good weather is directly linked to the record number of fatalities. The correct answer choice will demonstrate the nature of that link.
(A) Whether or not the climbers expected the good weather and were subsequently surprised does not explain how this surprise would contribute to the record death toll.
(B) CORRECT. While it may be reasonable to assume that good weather would cause a lower percentage of people attempting to reach the summit to perish because bad weather typically creates complications which have fatal consequences, the absolute number of fatalities could increase if a much higher number of people attempt to reach the summit. This answer choice states that there was a significant increase in the number of people entering the “death-zone,” the area of the mountain where “almost all” of fatalities took place. Hence, this provides a reasonable explanation of how the good weather was a cause of the record number of fatalities.
(C) This implies that the “death-zone” is more survivable during good weather than in bad and does more to refute the experts’ conclusion than it does to explain it.
(D) The fact that modern equipment protects climbers in bad weather does not provide any insight as to why good weather would result in an increased number of fatalities.
(E) The decrease in the number of expert climbers does nothing to explain the overall increase in deaths. In order to do so, the answer choice must either show or imply that either non-expert climbers have a higher probability of dying due to the good weather, or the number of non-expert climbers has increased enough to overcome any decrease in the probability of them perishing and any deaths that may have occurred in the expert group prior to their decrease in numbers; the answer choice does neither.