The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the mountain lion, puma

Question

The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the mountain lion, puma, panther, painter, mountain cat, or catamount, is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the greatest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. An adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in most American habitat types. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although sightings during daylight hours do rarely occur. The cougar is more closely related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat, than to any subspecies of lion.

An excellent stalk-and-ambush predator, the cougar pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses and sheep, particularly in the northern part of its range. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but can also live in open areas. While large, it is not always the apex predator in its range, yielding to the jaguar, gray wolf, American black bear, and grizzly bear. It is reclusive and mostly avoids people, so fatal attacks on humans are rare but have been trending upward in certain areas during recent years as more people enter their territory.

Excessive hunting following European colonization of the Americas and the ongoing human development of cougar habitat has caused populations to drop in most parts of its historical range. In particular, the cougar was extirpated in eastern North America in the beginning of the 20th century, except for an isolated subpopulation in Florida. However, in recent decades, breeding populations have moved east into the far western parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Transient males have been verified in Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Illinois, where a cougar was shot in the city limits of Chicago, and, in at least one instance, observed as far east as Connecticut. Today, reports of eastern cougars (Puma concolor cougar) still surface, but the last verified one was killed in 2011.   1 
 1. This is most likely an excerpt from which of the following:

(A) A textbook on endangered species
(B) A field book on North American predators
(C) A proposal to help protect the cougar species in North America
(D) A government study on the effects of human development
(E) An analysis of North American ecosystems

2 
 2. Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?

(A) There are more cougars in Florida than there are in Minnesota.
(B) Excessive hunting has been the primary cause of the population decrease in cougars across its entire habitat. 
(C) In Florida, cougar attacks on humans are more likely now than they were several decades ago. 
(D) The cougar has a larger range than either the grizzly bear or the American bison.
(E) The cougar is considered the apex predator in most habitats.

3 
 3. All of the following are discussed in the passage EXCEPT:

(A) the habitat of the cougar.
(B) how the cougar pursues its prey.
(C) the effects of land preservation on the cougar.
(D) extirpation of the cougar in the 1900s. 
(E) the evolutionary history of the cougar.

4 
 4. According to the passage, you would most likely see a cougar in which of the following situations:

(A) On the east coast of the U.S. in late afternoon.
(B) In the southern hemisphere, particularly around livestock.
(C) In the Yukon while driving during the night.
(D) In Chicago during the morning hours.
(E) In Florida during the middle of the day.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. This is most likely an excerpt from which of the following:

Explanation

For this type of broad, universal question, you must use your general understanding of the passage to determine where it would most likely come from.

(A)  is out of scope because you do not know if the cougar is an endangered species. While the populations have declined, you are not given enough information to determine this. Clearly, this would not be an excerpt from such a textbook if the cougar is not an endangered species.

(B)  matches the text perfectly. In the passage you learn a series of facts about the cougar’s history (a North American predator), its habitat, and its behavior – all things you would expect to see in a field book.

For  (C) , this does not come from a proposal – in that type of document you would expect to see some new ideas or prescriptions and the focus would be on protecting the species.

(D)  is far too broad and off-topic, as this passage is specifically about cougars and their traits. The passage only talks briefly about the effects of human development on the cougar.

(E)  is even broader in scope, and probably the easiest of the five choices to eliminate.

Answer is (B).

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?

Explanation

For this question, you must go through each choice, find where it is discussed in the passage, and determine if it is a proper inference. For  (A) , there is no evidence given to support this conclusion. While you learn that cougars have traditionally been found in Florida and have recently moved into Minnesota, there is no way to determine from the passage where more exist.

For  (B) , you learn in the passage that hunting played a role in the decline of cougar populations, as did human encroachment on cougar habitat. However you have no idea from the passage if hunting has been the PRIMARY cause of the decrease across its ENTIRE habitat. Be careful about such strongly worded language in any inference questions.

(C) , like  (B) , goes too far and is not a reasonable inference. You learn that attacks on humans are rare and have been generally trending upwards, but you have no idea what the case is in Florida and whether attacks there are more likely than several decades ago.

For  (D) , you learn in the passage that  “Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the greatest of ANY large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere.”  From this you can infer with certainty that the cougar has a larger range than the grizzly bear or American bison. Of course, the trick in this answer choice is that the American Bison is not discussed in the passage, but it is certainly a wild terrestrial mammal so  (D)  must be true.

For  (E) , you learn specifically that the cougar is NOT always the apex predator in its range so you cannot make this inference.

Answer is (D).

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

4. According to the passage, you would most likely see a cougar in which of the following situations:

Explanation

The only place in the passage where likelihood of sighting can be determined comes in this sentence:  “Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although sightings during daylight hours do rarely occur.” “Nocturnal”  means active during the nighttime hours and  “crepuscular”  means active during the evening and morning twilight hours (a word you are unlikely to know and not essential for getting this correct!).

In the five answer choices you are looking for the one choice that describes a situation in nighttime hours. Only  (C)  does that and is thus the correct answer.

For the other choices, no real information is given in the passage about a predilection for regions (except less likely to be seen on East Coast) and none of those choices describe a situation during nighttime hours.

Answer is (C).

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. All of the following are discussed in the passage EXCEPT:

Explanation

For this type of question, use your initial reading to try to locate each of these topics quickly. For  (A) , the habitat of the cougar is discussed in several places, so this is not the correct answer. In the beginning of the  2nd paragraph  the cougar is described as  “An excellent stalk-and-ambush predator,”  which describes exactly how the cougar pursues its prey.

As a result,  (B)  can be eliminated. Answer  choice (C)  is tricky but it is NOT found in the passage and is thus correct. While you learn the effects of human encroachment on cougar habitat, there is nothing in the passage about how land preservation has affected the cougar.

In the  third paragraph  you learn about the extirpation of the cougar in the 20th century (1900s) so  (D)  is not correct. And lastly, in the end of the  first paragraph  you learn that the cougar is more closely related to felines than to lions – a portion of the evolutionary history of the cougar.

Answer is (C).

Thelegend2631 · Answer

Not sure about the answer choice D. QUESTION stem doesn't explicitly mention about a certain hemisphere. What if grizzly bear and bison are present in eastern hemisphere and hence they'll obviously end up having higher range.
Passage just mentions it's range to be greater than x and y in western hemisphere.

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VeritasKarishma

KarishmaB · Answer

"Western hemisphere" covers the entire Canada, US, South America region. 
The passage talks about animals of this region, particularly the cougar. 
We are given that grizzly bear is found in this region and the "American bison" would obviously be found in America.

We are also given that 
"Cougar's range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the greatest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere."

So cougar's range is greater than the range of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. Grizzly bear and American bison are large wild terrestrial mammals found in Western Hemisphere.

So this is the best option that we can "infer".

gloomybison · Answer

VeritasKarishma

In Q4, Isn't the situation mentioned in option B most likely? It says that primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses and sheep we also know that they are seen in south America. For Yukon I am not sure because passage says; "In particular, the cougar was  extirpated  in eastern North America"

Note; In case we say that Yukon is closer to west than to east, then it requires geography to solve the question

KarishmaB · Answer

4. According to the passage, you would most likely see a cougar in which of the following situations:

a. On the east coast of the U.S. in late afternoon.
b. In the southern hemisphere, particularly around livestock.
c. In the Yukon while driving during the night.
d. In Chicago during the morning hours.
e. In Florida during the middle of the day.

The cougar ... Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America,.. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although sightings during daylight hours do rarely occur.
 
We know that cougar's range is from Canadian Yukon to southern Andes of South America. We know it is solitary (so will not be surrounded by other animals) and nocturnal so will likely be seen at night.

Hence, Yukon at night makes most sense. Where exactly Yukon is, east west etc, we don't know and don't need to know. We are clearly given that Yukon is in its range.

Even if domestic animals are one of its food source, it doesn't mean we will see it surrounded by them. We are most likely to see it alone and at night.

Answer (C)

kartickdey · Answer

In Option B it is written: "  A field book on North American predators  ". It is not written that a field book on  A  north american predator. Throughout the entire text, only one species has been described. How it can be a general field book on North American Predator.

kartickdey · Answer

The first problem with the option D is that it requires outer knowledge that American Bison is a wild terrestrial animal. secondly, if I even assume that American Bison is a wild terrestrial animal, nowhere in the option D it is mentioned that it is talking about  Western Hemisphere.  It is stated in the passage "  Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the greatest of ANY large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere  "-not in the world.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi kartickdey

A field book on North American predators would typically cover multiple species, not just the cougar. So  (B)  is correct.

PS: I did not like the OA as it didn't seems a perfect one but if we look at the other four options,  (B)  is best among the five. Sometimes we need to do comparative analysis along side looking for a perfect answer. In the official questions we rarely deal with such a situation.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi kartickdey

I agree with you,  (D)  needs outside knowledge to hold true. I think author of this passage might consider  (D)  acceptable if he/she assume common knowledge that grizzly bear and American bison are indeed large wild terrestrial mammals in the Western Hemisphere, and since cougar has the greatest range of any such mammal in that hemisphere, it logically follows it has a larger range than those two. This seems to be a likely reason why  (D)  is the answer.

The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the mountain lion, puma

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as the mountain lion, puma

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards