Scientists have made genetic modifications to cotton to increase its

The correct answer in OG16 is D.

chetan2u
Please clarify this one.
IMO E.

I think the question has been removed from the Official Guide for a reason. Only 39% of people on this forum were able to find the supposedly correct answer.

Assumption: No way how new seed can be beneficial economically

A,B,C is out of scope

D correctly touches assumption by asking the area of new seed used. If area is wide even little difference in insecticide per acre needed becomes valuable

E is out. Can use two-path test, positive and negative answers do not strenghten/weaken the argument

OG 2016 has different version of this question.

Good question,
A - Irrelevant
B - Irrelevant, we need comparision b/w GMO and non GMO cotton, not b/w cotton and non cotton
C - Irrelevant
D - Correct, the sample used to find the average pesticide usage for GMO cotton should be comparable to the sample used to find the average usage of pesticide in non GMO.
E - The reason why the used GMO cotton is not relevant.

Official question is as follows:-
Question no. 86 (OG 2016)

Scientists have modified feed corn genetically, increasing its resistance to insect pests. Farmers who tried out the genetically modified corn last season applied less insecticide to their corn fields and still got yields comparable to those they would have gotten with ordinary corn. Ordinary corn seed, however, costs less, and what these farmers saved on insecticide rarely exceeded their extra costs for seed. Therefore, for most feed-corn farmers, switching to genetically modified seed would be unlikely to increase profits.

Which of the following would it be most useful to know in order to evaluate the argument?

(A) Whether there are insect pests that sometimes reduce feed-corn yields, but against which commonly used insecticides and the genetic modification are equally ineffective
(B) Whether the price that farmers receive for feed corn has remained steady over the past few years
(C) Whether the insecticides typically used on feed corn tend to be more expensive than insecticides typically used on other crops
(D) Whether most of the farmers who tried the genetically modified corn last season applied more insecticide than was actually necessary
(E) Whether, for most farmers who plant feed corn, it is their most profitable crop

correct answer is D

We do see variations of the same question in the official material too.

Hi Experts,

Can you please explain how to eliminate E?

Thanks and Regards
Nandish
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Hi GMATNinja,

To the original question at the very beginning of the thread.
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This question is paraphrased to an extent that it has lost its clarity as compared to the original question from OG 16. Hence it is creating this confusion.

And. D.
As it is important to know about the farm land otherwise can't compare the yield and can't evaluate.

Sent from my vivo 1601 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Using Genetically Modified Cotton does not yield in general higher revenue than using Regular cotton because the savings on the pesticides isn't a lot + the seeds cost higher.

To make this comparison we need to know

1) How much more are the seeds than the regular seeds
2) We need an equal comparison between the revenue from GMO seeds and non GMO seeds.

Option D satisfied 2).