The length of a bee’s tongue is proportional to the size of the bee

Question

The length of a bee’s tongue is proportional to the size of the bee, but it is also true that this proportion is inherited by each bee. Furthermore, the bee tongue is usually sized to match the depth of the flower it pollinates, making it possible for the bee to drink the nectar from it. Accordingly, there are both short-tongued and long-tongued bees that drink nectar only from flowers suited to their tongue size. Such bees are called specialists and since they depend on just a few flowers, they are quite vulnerable to changes in nature.

What could be inferred from statements above ?

(A) It is by studying the species of flower a bee pollinates that entomologists determine the exact body size of the bee and the species it belongs to.

(B) It is likely that a short tongued bee may have a problem drinking nectar from a flower that has a longer than average depth but a long tongued bee can easily sap the nectar of any kind of flower.

(C) Drastic changes in the flora of a land could affect the existence of certain bee species.

(D) The type of honey produced by the bees depends heavily on the flowers they pollinate.

(E) Across various bee species, the kind of flower a particular type of bee pollinates is exclusive from that pollinated by another type of bee.

NiharikaR · Answer

IMO C
Such bees are called specialists and since they depend on just a few flowers, they are quite vulnerable to changes in nature.
With the above statement, C follows

aragonn · Answer

giving my end of the thinking.

Premise 1: The length of a bee’s tongue is proportional to the size of the bee. so it goes with big size, big tongue.
premise 2: above property is inherited.
premise 3: also it goes with big tongue bee will go to big depth flower for pollination.

Inference question, lets try to eliminate choices by proving them wrong.

A: It is by studying the species of flower a bee pollinates that entomologists determine the exact body size of the bee and the species it belongs to. --- this is a long shot. also study of flower is not mentioned in premise.

B: It is likely that a short tongued bee may have a problem drinking nectar from a flower that has a longer than average depth but a long tongued bee can easily sap the nectar of any kind of flower. ---- This is likely true for normal scenario, but what if flower is very very small and only a very small bee can pollinate it while a very big size bee could not. many if are there and i don't have sufficient info for it. it is definitely a good contender for normal case.

C: Drastic changes in the flora of a land could affect the existence of certain bee species. --- so fact is specialists bees are dependent on specific flower. let just say suddenly flower size reduced to very small or species died. what will happen to bee. can it shift to other flowers. affect the existence is a very long shot.but if external info such as survival of the fittest is not used here then this choice can be true but in long shot. i still what to find a better choice.

D: The type of honey produced by the bees depends heavily on the flowers they pollinate. ---- i don't know any type of honey.

E: Across various bee species, the kind of flower a particular type of bee pollinates is exclusive from that pollinated by another type of bee. ---- we have no such info, one flower, multiple bees mapping is also possible.

C is best answer for sure.

Abhishek009 · Answer

Thats the beauty of the question , read the last line carefully

Hence, answer must be (C) Drastic changes in the flora of a land could affect the existence of certain bee species.

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

(A) It is by studying the species of flower a bee pollinates that entomologists determine the exact body size of the bee and the species it belongs to.  -  the passage is not concerned with the method used by the entomologists to determine characteristics of a bee.  
 
(B) It is likely that a short tongued bee may have a problem drinking nectar from a flower that has a longer than average depth but a long tongued bee can easily sap the nectar of any kind of flower.  -  while it is true that a short tongued bee may have a problem drinking nectar from a flower that has a longer than average depth, we cannot be certain that long tongued bee can easily sap the nectar of any kind of flower (since there may be those kind of flowers that even the long tongued bee cannot easily sap).

(C) Drastic changes in the flora of a land could affect the existence of certain bee species. - we can infer this from the passage. Hence,  (C) is the right answer choice. 
  
(D) The type of honey produced by the bees depends heavily on the flowers they pollinate.  -  the passage is not concerned with the type of honey produced by the bees.  
 
(E) Across various bee species, the kind of flower a particular type of bee pollinates is exclusive from that pollinated by another type of bee.  -  irrelevant to the passage.

Vidhi96 · Answer

What could be inferred from statements above ?

(A) It is by studying the species of flower a bee pollinates that entomologists determine the exact body size of the bee and the species it belongs to.  cannot be inferred

(B) It is likely that a short tongued bee may have a problem drinking nectar from a flower that has a longer than average depth but a long tongued bee can easily sap the nectar of any kind of flower. This will be wrong as it is clearly stated  "Accordingly, there are both short-tongued and long-tongued bees that drink nectar only from flowers suited to their tongue size. "

(C) Drastic changes in the flora of a land could affect the existence of certain bee species.  correct

(D) The type of honey produced by the bees depends heavily on the flowers they pollinate.  cannot be inferred 
(E) Across various bee species, the kind of flower a particular type of bee pollinates is exclusive from that pollinated by another type of bee.  cannot be inferred

KarishmaB · Answer

(A) It is by studying the species of flower a bee pollinates that entomologists determine the exact body size of the bee and the species it belongs to.

No information on how entomologists determine the size and species of the bee. We do know that certain species depend on certain flowers but do entomologists use this info, we don't know.

(B) It is likely that a short tongued bee may have a problem drinking nectar from a flower that has a longer than average depth but a long tongued bee can easily sap the nectar of any kind of flower.

Not known. If stands to reason that a short tongued bee will have difficulty drinking from a greater depth flower but can a long tongue bee easily drink from any flower - we don't know. If the argument is to be believed, a bee's tongue matches the flower - short to short and long to long. Hence, there could be difficulties that long tongue bees face with short flowers too.

(C) Drastic changes in the flora of a land could affect the existence of certain bee species.

Correct. We are given ... Such bees are called specialists and since they depend on just a few flowers, they are quite vulnerable to changes in nature...
Certain bee species are likely to be impacted if flora changes drastically.

(D) The type of honey produced by the bees depends heavily on the flowers they pollinate.

Honey not mentioned so we don't know if this is true.

(E) Across various bee species, the kind of flower a particular type of bee pollinates is exclusive from that pollinated by another type of bee.

We know that "certain bee species" depend on certain flowers. But across various bee species, do different bee species pollinate different flowers exclusively, we don't know. Also, multiple species could be pollinating the same few flowers and could be dependent on them. We are not given that flowers are exclusive to bee varieties.

Answer (C)

vfost906 · Answer

KarishmaB

My question here for answer C: How can we assume the each Bee is of a different species given that it is not mentioned in the stimulus?

KarishmaB · Answer

The argument mentions two different types of bees -  short-tongued and long-tongued bees. These are inherited characteristics and one would assume that these are two different species - after all they have different physical characteristics and different food preferences. But in any case, for (C), we don't need to assume "different" species. 
We know that there are bees that are specialist and depend on just a few flowers and hence are vulnerable - all this is given in the argument. 
So it stands to reason that if there are changes in the flower availability (flora), it could affect the existence of certain bee species. We know of at least one (or actually 2) species that could be affected.

egmat · Answer

Hi vfost906,

Good catch that the stimulus never uses the word "species." But that's actually not a problem for  C , and here's why.

Notice what the stimulus  does  give you: it sorts bees into distinct kinds -  "there are both short-tongued and long-tongued bees"  - and calls the ones tied to just a few flowers  "specialists"  that are  "quite vulnerable to changes in nature."  So the passage already treats bees as coming in different types, each locked to particular flowers.

The key is the word "certain" in choice C.  C says  "certain bee species"  - not  "every bee"  and not  "each bee is its own species."  "Certain" just means  some kinds of bees . So C is only claiming that  some  types of bees could be hurt if the flowers they depend on disappear. It is not assuming anything about how many species exist or that each bee differs.

So you don't need the stimulus to hand you the word "species." You only need the idea it clearly states:  some kinds of bees rely on a few specific flowers, and are vulnerable to changes.  Read "bee species" simply as "kinds of bees," and C follows directly from that last line.

Try swapping one word to feel it: 
- If C said  "all bee species,"  would it still be safe? (No - too strong.)
- With  "certain bee species,"  it only needs  some  kinds to be affected - which the specialist line gives you.

That's the whole move: "certain" keeps the claim modest, and "species" is just a label for the distinct bee types the passage already described.

Answer: C

The length of a bee’s tongue is proportional to the size of the bee

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

The length of a bee’s tongue is proportional to the size of the bee

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