The country of Verovia exports millions of tons of coal each year, mor

Question

The country of Verovia exports millions of tons of coal each year, more than any other country in the region. However, the country also imports several hundred thousand tons of coal annually. This imported coal is of the same variety produced domestically. One geographer explained this by pointing out that while most coal is mined in the eastern part of the country, there is demand for coal in several cities on the opposite side of the country, hundreds of kilometers away.

Which of the following would, if true, most help support the geographer's explanation?

Which of the following would, if true, most help support the geographer's explanation?

A. Verovia's mountainous interior is impassible for most of the year.
B. Gorosco, the third-largest coal producer in the region, borders Verovia to the west.
C. Verovia has an extensive electric power system that depends entirely on coal power.
D. Ojondo, Verovia's neighbor to the south, consumes more than half of Verovia's exports.
E. Verovia's public transportation system uses other forms of energy besides coal.

Source: Skills Insight

AndrewN · Accepted Answer

Hello, everyone. I came across this question earlier today and thought I would provide a full analysis for the benefit of the community. Note that we are looking for an answer that would  help support the geographer's explanation , so this is a typical strengthen question. We do not need an ironclad answer, just one that most logically strengthens the explanation.

Sentence one is factual:  Verovia exports... more   than any other country in the region .

Sentence two is also factual, but now, we are told that Verovia  imports  a lot of coal each year.

Sentence three clarifies that the coal, whether imported or exported, is  of the same variety , so it is not as though Verovia is importing some sort of exotic coal. The plot thickens...

The final sentence introduces the  geographer , who explains that  most coal is mined in the eastern part of the country , but that  demand for coal in several cities  exists  on the opposite side of the country , presumably the  western  part,  hundreds of kilometers away . If this is to explain why the largest coal-exporting country in the region would also need to import the same type of coal, we need to find a compelling reason behind this  what .

Blink, and you might miss  interior , or, in other words, the  middle  part of the country. If eastern and western Verovia are separated by  impassible  mountains  for most of the year , then it makes sense that the east would ship out coal while the west, which might not produce enough coal to meet its needs, would bring some in from other countries. Perhaps this is a more viable or economic solution than waiting for the mountains to become passable again to send coal  hundreds of kilometers  from eastern to western Verovia. Finally, notice how fitting it is that a  geographer  offered the explanation in the passage. A geographer would most likely be knowledgeable about the major geographic features of a country. If you like to be cautious, just hold on to this one while you assess the other options.

The most dissatisfying part of this answer choice, to me, is the appositive in the middle. If Verovia is  the  largest  coal producer in the region , then why would it need to turn to the  third-largest producer  for coal? Simply because it  borders Verovia to the west ? That is a tenuous connection at best. Where is the second-largest coal-producing country in the region? For all we know, it lies to the northwest or southwest of Verovia and also shares a border. In short, there is no compelling reason to  assume  that just because Gorosco happens to produce coal and also happens to lie west of Verovia, western Vorovia has turned its attention outward to meet its demand for coal.

No attention whatsoever is given to  western  Verovia or any other part of the country, and that is a real problem. We want to support the explanation behind the idea that, despite its apparent wealth in coal, Verovia would still find it desirable or necessary to import the resource. This information provides a blanket statement on all of Verovia and does not connect with the explanation the geographer provided.

How greedy of Ojondo, you might think. But the fact remains that, regardless of where Verovia exports its coal, the resource is still being culled and presumably exported from the eastern part of the country while the  opposite side of the country  is in want. If this is even tempting for you, consider that  more than half  could refer to, say, 50.1 percent of exports, and that some other country, perhaps one to the north, could consume all of the remaining 49.9 percent of Verovian coal. Would Ojondo really make that much more of a difference? Again, this has nothing to do with the explanation the geographer provided, so we cannot call such a consideration a strengthener.

No part of this fits. First, we get a cover-all statement on Verovia, not on any particular area within the country, so this apparently country-wide system of transit could affect all areas equally; then, it does not even use coal, the resource that the geographer was discussing. This answer choice might as well tell us that Verovians own more cats than dogs or tend to live longer than their neighbors in Ojondo or Gorosco. The word  irrelevant  comes to mind.

There you have it. If you narrowed the options down to (A) and (B), you were on the right track. If you selected (B), you have to learn to approach these CR questions the way a lawyer would look to dismantle information. Any target you can find, you want to mark as a doubt, and (B) ultimately leaves much to be desired, for reasons discussed above.

As always, good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

GMATNinja · Answer

Verovia has a strange situation going on: it exports a lot of coal, and yet it also imports a lot of coal. Not only that, but the amount that it exports would cover the amount that it imports -- it exports millions of tons of coal, and then imports a fraction of that amount. Why is Verovia importing coal when it clearly has enough to meet its own needs?

The mystery is deepened by the fact that the coal Verovia imports is  exactly the same kind  that it exports. This eliminates the possibility that Verovia wants a different type of coal for some reason.

A certain geographer has explained this conundrum by discussing Veronia's geographical layout. He/she argues that since the coal mines are in the eastern part of Verovia and several coal-demanding cities are on the opposite side of the country, it makes sense for Verovia to import coal.

Which answer choice supports this explanation?

This supports the geographer's claim. He/she argues that the "hundreds of kilometers" between the eastern coal mines and western cities are the reason that Verovia imports coal. (A) gives us information about why these hundred of kilometers are such an impediment -- the interior of the country is "impassible" for most of the year, so the coal can't make it from the east to the west.

Does (A)  prove  that that the geographer's explanation is correct? Nope! Maybe Verovia could develop a system to transport and store the coal it needs when the route is passable. Or maybe it could develop an alternate route that bypasses the interior of the country. That's ok -- we don't need to prove that the geographer is right. We just need to provide a bit of support for his/her explanation, and (A) does just that.

(A) supports the geographer's argument, so keep (A).

The main issue with (B) is that it doesn't give us a comparison of distances from the coal mines to their destination. Sure, the  country  of Gorosco borders western Verovia, but  where are the coal mines in Gorosco ? They could be right next to the border, or they could be thousands of kilometers away.

The geographer's argument is that Verovia's mines are hundreds of kilometers away from the western cities. We'd need to know that the Goroscan mines are closer than this for (B) to support the geographer's argument.

Eliminate (B).

(C) tells us what the coal is used for, but that doesn't give us any insight into whether the geographer's assertion is correct.

Get rid of (C).

(D) really doesn't give us much info about why Verovia imports coal. We already know that Verovia exports enough coal to cover its own shortfall, and it doesn't particularly matter where this coal is exported to.

Eliminate (D).

Yeah, this really has no bearing on why Verovia is importing coal.

(E) is out, and (A) is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

Nefertiti9 · Answer

IMO B  , this is kind of solve the paradox or giving reason for the export and import of the same variety of coal within the same country.

The country of Verovia exports millions of tons of coal each year, more than any other country in the region. However, the country also imports several hundred thousand tons of coal annually. This imported coal is of the same variety produced domestically. One geographer explained this by pointing out that while most coal is mined in the eastern part of the country, there is demand for coal in several cities on the opposite side of the country, hundreds of kilometers away.

Which of the following would, if true, most help support the geographer's explanation?

Which of the following would, if true, most help support the geographer's explanation?

A. Verovia's mountainous interior is impassible for most of the year. --> out of scope , we dont care much as it does not say if the path form east to west is mountainous.
B. Gorosco, the third-largest coal producer in the region, borders Verovia to the west. --> this explains why its easier to import form a border next to the west side rather than crossing the whole country from east to west.
C. Verovia has an extensive electric power system that depends entirely on coal power. --> we Do not care about this as it says nothing about the geography.
D. Ojondo, Verovia's neighbor to the south, consumes more than half of Verovia's exports. --> talking about a neighbor does not help us to explain the export-import situation
E. Verovia's public transportation system uses other forms of energy besides coal. --> we Do not care about this as it says nothing about the geography.

S1905 · Answer

Bunuel   GMATNinja   egmat

Can you please help me understand why B is wrong and A is right?

As per google - impassible means capable of feeling or suffering; susceptible to sensation or emotion & the word we are looking for is impassable.

Whatever the case maybe, I am sure of the intended meaning so my analysis based on that: 
I marked A wrong because it says that the interior is impassable for "most part of the year" so it must be passable at some point in the year and since it is imported annually, it is possible that they can get the coal from the East.
I marked B as the right answer because there is a large coal producer on the west border(which is closer than the eastern border since the east is hundreds of kms away) - is this wrong because the producer may or may not be exporting coal?

Please help

kartikkmadan · Answer

The country of Verovia exports millions of tons of coal each year, more than any other country in the region. However, the country also imports several hundred thousand tons of coal annually. This imported coal is of the same variety produced domestically. One geographer explained this by pointing out that while most coal is mined in the eastern part of the country, there is demand for coal in several cities on the opposite side of the country, hundreds of kilometers away.

Which of the following would, if true, most help support the geographer's explanation?

Which of the following would, if true, most help support the geographer's explanation?

A. Verovia's mountainous interior is impassible for most of the year.
B. Gorosco, the third-largest coal producer in the region, borders Verovia to the west.
C. Verovia has an extensive electric power system that depends entirely on coal power.
D. Ojondo, Verovia's neighbor to the south, consumes more than half of Verovia's exports.
E. Verovia's public transportation system uses other forms of energy besides coal.

Hey!  GMATNinja  , could you please help me through it

Soz · Answer

Could you please explain how A is the answer? A seems out of scope whereas B provides a viable explanation to the scenario. Since the East and West are separated by hundreds of kilometers, imported coal from a nearby source might be more economical than domestic coal.

BMohit · Answer

A is the answer. Coal has to be transported from east to west. It will have to pass from interior of the region which is impassable for most year and so not sufficient for the industries in the west.

B - it is not necessary that the import is from Gorosco. There may me tax issues etc. So does not explain the paradox.

Note - I think there is typo error in the option A. It should be 'IMPASSABLE'.

I hope it helps

Jaychoudhary · Answer

GMATNinja 
In the option A it only says that country has mountain region but not specify in which part of the country. It could be in south or north. How is A the answer here?

priyanshi1804 · Answer

Please explain why choice B is incorrect.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

The clearest reason why (B) is incorrect is that (B) doesn't say that coal is mined in Gorosco closer to the cities in Verovia than coal is mined in Verovia. For all we know, Gorosco is a huge country, and the coal in Gorosco is mined very far from any city in Verovia.

We need at least some kind of comparison of distances for information about Gorosco to support the conclusion about why Verovia imports coal.

Paagrio · Answer

Thanks for your explanations, I really appreciate it. but I would say that Verbal part of this exam is just "building the case for specific answer". I mean the answer will be as the author wants it to be. This problem is a perfect proof of it. If A is the answer, we have to also assume that mountains are between eastern and western parts. What if mountains are only in the north? You can not say for sure that there are mountains that get in the way. So A is, at best, the best answer in the worst answers.

In the same manner, you can assume that Gorosco, which is to the West of Verovia, produces coal closeby and it is more viable to import from there than go to distant parts of the country. Imagine if Russian guy had to go from St. Petersburgh to Magadan to get coal (please do check on the map), or go to some Estonian city. Even if mountains are in the way, it might still be smart to go 500 Km-s, than 10,000. All I'm trying to say is that I can build cases for B all day, with the same success.

From a test-taker's perspective, it is very disappointing to see such a question on an exam-day, especially when Verbal part is weighted so much.

houston1980 · Answer

Option  'A'  is the correct option.

Option B is a 'trap' option.

In addition to other excellent explanations, another reason option B is incorrect is that third largest may mean it produces less than 1%. Third largest coal mine may produces just 0.0000001% of the country coal output.

sevenfive · Answer

Seems to me the most convincing explanation
Thanks a ton!

siddhantvarma · Answer

How missing the core of the argument can get you to select the trap answer choice (B)

- Verovia exports millions of tons of coal (more than any other country), but also imports hundreds of thousands of tons.
- The imported coal is the same variety as what's produced domestically.

Why import what you already produce?
Geographer’s explanation: Coal is mined in the east, but there is demand in the west (far away). This implies that it's probably more efficient to import coal to the west from outside the country than to ship it from the east.

We need to support the geographer’s explanation, which hinges on the idea that it’s impractical to ship coal across Verovia from east to west, so it makes sense to import it for western cities instead.

We already know geographer finds the distance between the two points (point of production and point of demand) to justify the idea of exporting and importing coal. Now we need to find a new piece of information that strengthens this idea, that hey it's better to just import/export coal than move it from east to west.

A. Verovia’s mountainous interior is impassible for most of the year.

This gives us another reason, besides distance already cited by the geographer why domestic coal can’t easily be transported from the eastern mines to western cities.
If the interior is impassible, then sending coal cross-country is difficult, even if it's the same variety and even if Verovia produces more than enough coal.

This strengthens the geographer’s explanation.

But wait, “what if the mountains aren't in the transport path?”. The phrase “Verovia’s mountainous interior” strongly implies the mountains are centrally located, i.e., between east and west — otherwise, it wouldn’t be referred to as the interior of the country.

So (A) strengthens the geographer’s claim by making the internal transport difficult or infeasible.

B. Gorosco, the third-largest coal producer in the region, borders Verovia to the west.

This might seem helpful, but it’s weaker than (A) for two reasons:
It tells us that coal is nearby, but doesn’t explain why Verovia would need to import it if it can transport its own coal. The geographic proximity of Gorosco doesn’t by itself justify importing unless we already know domestic transport is difficult.

So while tempting, (B) doesn't explain why imports are necessary. (B) at best gives us why, if it was difficult to transport coal, you could import it from the west, which is not at all what the argument is about.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The country of Verovia exports millions of tons of coal each year, mor

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