The arrival of a nonindigenous plant or animal species in a new loca

Question

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Passage # 16, Date: 08-Apr-2020
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The arrival of a nonindigenous plant or animal species in a new location may be either intentional or unintentional. Rates of species movement driven by human transformations of natural environments as well as by human mobility—through commerce, tourism, and travel—dwarf natural rates by comparison. While geographic distributions of species naturally expand or contract over historical time intervals (tens to hundreds of years), species’ ranges rarely expand thousands of miles or across physical barriers such as oceans or mountains.

A number of factors confound quantitative evaluation of the relative importance of various entry pathways. Time lags often occur between establishment of nonindigenous species and their detection, and tracing the pathway for a long-established species is difficult. Experts estimate that nonindigenous weeds are usually detected only after having been in the country for thirty years or having spread to at least ten thousand acres. In addition, federal port inspection, although a major source of information on nonindigenous species pathways, especially for agricultural pests, provides data only when such species enter via scrutinized routes. Finally, some comparisons between pathways defy quantitative analysis—for example, which is more “important”: the entry pathway of one very harmful species or one by which many but less harmful species enter the country?    1 
 1. According to the passage, the rate at which plant or animal species move naturally across land

(A) might depend on the prevalence of animals that feed on the species.
(B) is hindered by federal port inspectors.
(C) is often slower than the rate at which they move across water.
(D) is slower than human-assisted rates.
(E) varies according to the size of the species.

2 
 2. Whether the entry pathway for a particular nonindigenous species can be determined is LEAST likely to depend upon which of the following?

(A) Whether the species is considered to be a pest
(B) Whether the species gains entry through a scrutinized route
(C) The rate at which the species expands geographically
(D) How long the species has been established
(E) The size of the average member of the species

3 
 3. The second paragraph as a whole is concerned with:

(A) identifying the problems in assessing the relative significance of various entry pathways for nonindigenous species.
(B) describing the events usually leading to the detection of a nonindigenous species.
(C) discussing the role that time lags and geographic expansion of nonindigenous species play in species detection.
(D) pointing out the inadequacy of the federal port inspection system in detecting the entry of nonindigenous species.
(E) explaining why it is difficult to trace the entry pathways for long-established nonindigenous species.

4 
 4. Which of the following statements about species movement is best supported by the passage?

(A) Species movement is affected more by habitat modifications than by human mobility.
(B) Human-driven factors affect the rate at which species move more than they affect the long-term amount of such movements.
(C) Natural expansions in the geographic distribution of species account for less species movement than natural contractions do.
(D) Natural environments created by commerce, tourism, and travel contribute significantly to species movement.
(E) Movement of a species within a continent depends largely upon the geographic extent of human mobility within the continent.

AnirudhaS · Accepted Answer

1. According to the passage, the rate at which plant or animal species move naturally across land
(A) might depend on the prevalence of animals that feed on the species.
(B) is hindered by federal port inspectors.
(C) is often slower than the rate at which they move across water.
 (D) is slower than human-assisted rates. 
(E) varies according to the size of the species.

Explanation of question 1: 
It is pretty straightforward from the passage that the answer is D. The passage states that - "Rates of species movement driven by human transformations of natural environments as well as by human mobility—through commerce, tourism, and travel— dwarf natural rates by comparison ." This means movement of human assisted rates are far greater than natural rates. We will still look at the other options just to check if there is a better answer.
A - not mentioned in the passage
B - according to the passage federal port inspection provides data only when such species enter via scrutinized routes. has nothing to do with rates of movement.
C - water (oceans) are physical barriers as per the passage. In the passage the comparison between the rates of land vs ocean is not made, hence we cannot make this inference.
E - I don't think the author has made a reference to the size of the species. Not relevant.
D is the clear winner!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Whether the entry pathway for a particular nonindigenous species can be determined is LEAST likely to depend upon which of the following?
(A) Whether the species is considered to be a pest
(B) Whether the species gains entry through a scrutinized route
(C) The rate at which the species expands geographically
(D) How long the species has been established
 (E) The size of the average member of the species

Explanation of question 2: 
Ok this is kind of the continuation of the last question. The last choice in the previous question also asked us if the SIZE of the species has any relation with the RATE. There is no reference to the size of the species in the passage. We can also see that option E is trying to compare SIZE vs ENTRY PATH DETERMINATION. Surely this is the least likely. We will still check the other choices.
A - stated in the passage "In addition, federal port inspection, although a major source of information on nonindigenous species pathways,  especially for agricultural pests , provides data only when such species enter via scrutinized routes."
B - Referred in the same stated sentence as A
C - Stated in the passage "While geographic distributions of species naturally expand"
D - Stated in the passage "While geographic distributions of species naturally expand or contract over historical time intervals (tens to hundreds of years)"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. The second paragraph as a whole is concerned with:
 (A) identifying the problems in assessing the relative significance of various entry pathways for nonindigenous species. 
(B) describing the events usually leading to the detection of a nonindigenous species.
(C) discussing the role that time lags and geographic expansion of nonindigenous species play in species detection.
(D) pointing out the inadequacy of the federal port inspection system in detecting the entry of nonindigenous species.
(E) explaining why it is difficult to trace the entry pathways for long-established nonindigenous species.

Explanation of question 3: 
Lets use POE.
A - Yes this looks good, it does identify the problems assessing significance of various entry pathways, like time lags and data about specific routes of entry. Keeping this in for sure.
B - The author says that detection only happens when it is spread a fair bit - at least 10,000 acres. But that is not the main point. 
C - This cannot be the main point of second paragraph. The author does specify this, but in addition there is a lot more information. 
D - Similar to B and C, this is not just it. So it cannot be the main point of the second paragraph.
E - The explanation of WHY is not stated in the passage. Out.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Which of the following statements about species movement is best supported by the passage?
(A) Species movement is affected more by habitat modifications than by human mobility.
(B) Human-driven factors affect the rate at which species move more than they affect the long-term amount of such movements.
(C) Natural expansions in the geographic distribution of species account for less species movement than natural contractions do.
(D) Natural environments created by commerce, tourism, and travel contribute significantly to species movement.
 (E) Movement of a species within a continent depends largely upon the geographic extent of human mobility within the continent.

Explanation of question 4: 
We will use POE to get to our answer.
A - The 2 comparison are - Species movt vs habitat mod... And species movt vs. human mobility.. Wait a second, the author did not talk about habitat modification. Out.
B - Amount of movement is not discussed in the passage. Out.
C - Not supported in the passage
D - I mean rate is related to human transformation of natural environments. But natural environments created by human activities just does not make sense in this context.
E - Finally a choice which makes sense. It is clearly stated in the passage that movement of species depend on human mobility. E is our answer.

EugeneDG · Answer

Seems to be D B A B
Correct me if I'm wrong

Posted from my mobile device

KhulanE · Answer

1. D
2. E
3. A
4. E

1. According to the passage, the rate at which plant or animal species move naturally across land 
Unintentional movement of nonindigenous plant or animal species requires tens to hundreds of years to expand only thousands of miles or across physical barriars such as oceans or mountains. However, intentional movement - involved human mobility - requires short time intervals to travel over such barriers.
So, from para1 and para2, we can conclude that human activity caused movement of a species that did not expand naturally.

(A) might depend on the prevalence of animals that feed on the species.
(B) is hindered by federal port inspectors.
(C) is often slower than the rate at which they move across water.
 (D) is slower than human-assisted rates. 
(E) varies according to the size of the species.

2. Whether the entry pathway for a particular nonindigenous species can be determined is LEAST likely to depend upon which of the following?

(A) Whether the species is considered to be a pest - one of common entry pathway is agricultural pests
(B) Whether the species gains entry through a scrutinized route - some species, especially agricultural pests, enter to the country through scrutinized route
(C) The rate at which the species expands geographically - tracing entry pathway is available after having spread in some degree
(D) How long the species has been established - tracing entry pathway is available after having past some time
 (E) The size of the average member of the species - not mentioned

3. The second paragraph as a whole is concerned with: 
In the first sentence of the second paragraph mentioned that some factors cause evaluation of relative significance of various entry pathways

(A) identifying the problems in assessing the relative significance of various entry pathways for nonindigenous species. 
(B) describing the events usually leading to the detection of a nonindigenous species.
(C) discussing the role that time lags and geographic expansion of nonindigenous species play in species detection.
(D) pointing out the inadequacy of the federal port inspection system in detecting the entry of nonindigenous species.
(E) explaining why it is difficult to trace the entry pathways for long-established nonindigenous species.

4. Which of the following statements about species movement is best supported by the passage? 
para 1: how nonindigenous plants or animal species expand their territory on their own or by some human activity. 
para 2: how nonindigenous plants or animal species enters to a country in various pathways and how difficult that can be detected.

(A) Species movement is affected more by habitat modifications than by human mobility.
(B) Human-driven factors affect the rate at which species move more than they affect the long-term amount of such movements.
(C) Natural expansions in the geographic distribution of species account for less species movement than natural contractions do.
(D) Natural environments created by commerce, tourism, and travel contribute significantly to species movement.
 (E) Movement of a species within a continent depends largely upon the geographic extent of human mobility within the continent.

SiffyB · Answer

1. According to the passage, the rate at which plant or animal species move naturally across land
 
(A) might depend on the prevalence of animals that feed on the species.
(B) is hindered by federal port inspectors.
(C) is often slower than the rate at which they move across water.
  (D) is slower than human-assisted rates. 
 (E) varies according to the size of the species.

This is stated very clearly towards the beginning of the passage. Consider this sentence: "Rates of species movement driven by human transformations ...—dwarf natural rates by comparison". Thus, this means that natural rate is slower than human-assisted rates. Thus, the correct answer is choice (D).

2. Whether the entry pathway for a particular nonindigenous species can be determined is LEAST likely to depend upon which of the following? 
(A) Whether the species is considered to be a pest
(B) Whether the species gains entry through a scrutinized route
(C) The rate at which the species expands geographically
(D) How long the species has been established
  (E) The size of the average member of the species

We have to determine the factor that is lest likely a consideration when trying to determine the entry pathway of a non-indigenous species. Turning your attention to paragraph 2 would be of great help to this questions. The passage talks about "detection of non-indigenous weeds" and weeds are plants that are considered pests. Thus, one of the considerations here would be whether the species is considered a pest. Option (A) is out.
The passage also talks about the federal port inspection providing data about species that enters through scrutinized routes. Thus, option (B) is out.
According to the experts, non indigenous species are detected when they have been spread to at least ten thousand acres. This is expansion geographically. Thus, (C) is out.
Time lags between the establishment and detection of species is also a matter of concern in the passage. Thus, option (D) is out.
(E) is our best choice as it is not mentioned anywhere in the passage.

3. The second paragraph as a whole is concerned with:
 
(A) identifying the problems in assessing the relative significance of various entry pathways for nonindigenous species. -  Relative significance of pathways is not discussed. 
(B) describing the events usually leading to the detection of a nonindigenous species. -  Events are not discussed. Ways of detection are discussed. 
(C) discussing the role that time lags and geographic expansion of nonindigenous species play in species detection. -  Does species detection refer to non-indigenous species detection? Also, this covers partial scope. 
(D) pointing out the inadequacy of the federal port inspection system in detecting the entry of nonindigenous species.  This is partial scope. Only one sentence discussed the inadequacy of the federal port inspection. 
  (E) explaining why it is difficult to trace the entry pathways for long-established nonindigenous species  . - This correctly explains the significance of the second paragraph as a whole.

4. Which of the following statements about species movement is best supported by the passage?
 
(A) Species movement is affected more by habitat modifications than by human mobility. -  Human mobility and habitat transformation have not been compared to each other, rather these two factors together have been compared with natural factors. 
  (B) Human-driven factors affect the rate at which species move more than they affect the long-term amount of such movements . 
(C) Natural expansions in the geographic distribution of species account for less species movement than natural contractions do. - No such comparison between natural expansions and natural contractions has been made.
(D) Natural environments created by commerce, tourism, and travel contribute significantly to species movement. -  Commerce, tourism, and travel do not create a natural environment. Wrong choice. 
(E) Movement of a species within a continent depends largely upon the geographic extent of human mobility within the continent. -  not mentioned in the passage.

Sakshikothari · Answer

1) D because in first para it has been mentioned the natural rate is slow and comparing it human rate.

2) E

3) A because in last line the confusion of which thing to give importance is been mentioned.

4) B because in first para it is said that human moving species affects their natural rate.

Posted from my mobile device

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OAs of this RC are posted now, if anyone have any question kindly let me know.

1. D
2. E
3. A
4. E

Wxplanation by  AnirudhaS  is on top here,  Enkhhulan  got all correct here but you need to improve your reasoning,  abcdddddd  good try but 50/50 this time.

Good Luck for the upcoming questions.

itsarudolf · Answer

Can you please explain why 4E and not D?

Cheers

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

4. Which of the following statements about species movement is best supported by the passage?

Difficulty Level:   Hard

Explanation

This choice restates the author’s point in the  first paragraph  that rates of species movement driven by human transformation of the natural environment and by human mobility dwarf natural rates by comparison  (lines 2–5).

Choice (A)  is the most tempting wrong-answer choice. Based on the passage, habitat modifications and human mobility can both affect species movement, as  (A)  implies. And the passage does make a comparison involving human-driven species movement. So  (A)  looks appealing. However, the comparison made in the passage is between natural species movement and human-driven movement, not between human modification of habitats and human mobility. So  (A)  confuses the details of the passage.

Choice (B)  is easier to eliminate because it is completely unsupported by the passage, which makes no attempt to compare rate (interpreted either as frequency or speed) of species movement to total amounts of movement (distance).

Choice (C)  is also easier to eliminate than  (A) . It is completely unsupported by the passage. The author makes no attempt to compare natural expansions to natural contractions.

Choice (D)  is the easiest one to eliminate. You don’t even need to read the passage to recognize that  (D)  is a nonsensical statement. Human mobility (commerce, tourism, and travel) do not create  “natural”  environments. It is human mobility itself, not the  “natural environment”  created by it, that contributes significantly to species movement.

The correct answer is (E).

The arrival of a nonindigenous plant or animal species in a new loca

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The arrival of a nonindigenous plant or animal species in a new loca

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