The okapi, a forest mammal of central Africa, has presented zoologists

Question

The okapi, a forest mammal of central Africa, has
presented zoologists with a number of difficult
questions since they first learned of its existence in
1900. The first was how to classify it. Because it was
 (5)  horselike in dimension, and bore patches of striped
hide similar to a zebra’s (a relative of the horse),
zoologists first classified it as a member of the horse
family. But further studies showed that, despite okapis’
coloration and short necks, their closest relatives were
 (10)  giraffes. The okapi’s rightful place within the giraffe
family is confirmed by its skin-covered horns (in
males), two-lobed canine teeth, and long prehensile
tongue.

The next question was the size of the okapi
 (15)  population. Because okapis were infrequently captured
by hunters, some zoologists believed that they were
rare; however, others theorized that their habits simply
kept them out of sight. It was not until 1985, when
zoologists started tracking okapis by affixing collars
 (20)  equipped with radio transmitters to briefly captured
specimens, that reliable information about okapi
numbers and habits began to be collected. It turns out
that while okapis are not as rare as some zoologists
suspected, their population is concentrated in an
 (25)  extremely limited chain of forestland in northeastern
central Africa, surrounded by savanna.

One reason for their seeming scarcity is that their
coloration allows okapis to camouflage themselves
even at close range. Another is that okapis do not travel
 (30)  in groups or with other large forest mammals, and
neither frequent open riverbanks nor forage at the
borders of clearings, choosing instead to keep to the
forest interior. This is because okapis, unlike any other
animal in the central African forest, subsist entirely on
 (35)  leaves: more than one hundred species of plants have
been identified as part of their diet, and about twenty of
these are preferred. Okapis never eat one plant to the
exclusion of others; even where preferred foliage is
abundant, okapis will leave much of it uneaten,
 (40)  choosing to move on and sample other leaves. Because
of this, and because of the distribution of their food,
okapis engage in individual rather than congregated
foraging.

But other questions about okapi behavior arise.
 (45)  Why for example, do they prefer to remain within
forested areas when many of their favorite plants are
found in the open border between forest and savanna?
One possibility is that this is a defense against
predators; another is that the okapi was pushed into the
 (50)  forest by competition with other large, hoofed animals,
such as the bushbuck and bongo, that specialize on the
forest edges and graze them more efficiently. Another
question is why okapis are absent from other nearby
forest regions that would seem hospitable to them.
 (55)  Zoologists theorize that okapis are relicts of an era
when forestland was scarce and that they continue to
respect those borders even though available forestland
has long since expanded.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most completely and accurately expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) Information gathered by means of radiotracking collars has finally provided answers to the questions about okapis that zoologists have been attempting to answer since they first learned of the mammal’s existence.
(B) Because of their physical characteristics and their infrequent capture by hunters, okapis presented zoologists with many difficult questions at the start of the twentieth century.
(C) Research concerning okapis has answered some of the questions that have puzzled zoologists since their discovery, but has also raised other questions regarding their geographic concentration and feeding habits.
(D) A new way of tracking okapis using radiotracking collars reveals that their apparent scarcity is actually a result of their coloration, their feeding habits, and their geographic concentration.
(E) Despite new research involving radio tracking, the questions that have puzzled zoologists about okapis since their discovery at the start of the twentieth century remain mostly unanswered.

2 
 2. The function of the third paragraph is to

(A) pose a question about okapi behavior
(B) rebut a theory about okapi behavior
(C) counter the assertion that okapis are rare
(D) explain why okapis appeared to be rare
(E) support the belief that okapis are rare

3 
 3. Based on the passage, in its eating behavior the okapi is most analogous to

(A) a child who eats one kind of food at a time, consuming all of it before going on to the next kind
(B) a professor who strictly follows the outline in the syllabus, never digressing to follow up on student questions
(C) a student who delays working on homework until the last minute, then rushes to complete it
(D) a newspaper reader who skips from story to story, just reading headlines and eye-catching paragraphs
(E) a deer that ventures out of the woods only at dusk and dawn, remaining hidden during the rest of the day

4 
 4. Suppose that numerous okapis are discovered living in a remote forest region in northeastern central Africa that zoologists had not previously explored. Based on their current views, which one of the following would the zoologists be most likely to conclude about this discovery?

(A) Okapis were pushed into this forest region by competition with mammals in neighboring forests.
(B) Okapis in this forest region forage in the border between forest and savanna.
(C) Okapis in this forest region are not threatened by the usual predators of okapis.
(D) Okapis moved into this forest region because their preferred foliage is more abundant there than in other forests.
(E) Okapis lived in this forest region when forestland in the area was scarce.

5 
 5. The passage provides information intended to help explain each of the following EXCEPT:

(A) why zoologists once believed that okapis were rare
(B) why zoologists classified the okapi as a member of the giraffe family
(C) why okapis choose to limit themselves to the interiors of forests
(D) why okapis engage in individual rather than congregated foraging
(E) why okapis leave much preferred foliage uneaten

6 
 6. Based on the passage, the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) The number of okapis is many times larger than zoologists had previously believed it to be.
(B) Radio-tracking collars have enabled scientists to finally answer all the questions about the okapi.
(C) Okapis are captured infrequently because their habits and coloration make it difficult for hunters to find them.
(D) Okapis are concentrated in a limited geographic area because they prefer to eat one plant species to the exclusion of others.
(E) The number of okapis would steadily increase if okapis began to forage in the open border between forest and savanna.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. Suppose that numerous okapis are discovered living in a remote forest region in northeastern central Africa that zoologists had not previously explored. Based on their current views, which one of the following would the zoologists be most likely to conclude about this discovery?

(A) Okapis were pushed into this forest region by competition with mammals in neighboring forests.

Explanation

This unusually lengthy and off-putting  “just suppose”  needn’t be as confusing as it might at first appear. Hitherto undiscovered or not, the question stem’s okapis are in fact living exactly where  lines 22-26  place all the other okapis, in a remote forest region in northeastern central Africa. Given that, it’s reasonable to infer that what’s true for the okapis in general is true for these new ones, and that’s  (E) : As  lines 55-58  assert, the current thinking is that the critters lived there when forest acreage was scarce and they continue to do so even as more forest has become available.

(A)  reflects a theory, discussed in  lines 49-50 , that as far as we know has not yet gained wide acceptance, so one is hard pressed to agree that the zoologists would be  “likely”  to hold this view.

(B)  Opposite! okapis don’t forage in that border area  (lines 45-47) , and if the run-of-the-mill okapis don’t, why should these newly discovered ones forage there?

(C)  Not enough evidence. It’s possible that these okapis are beset by predators galore. Indeed, if they were, it would support one theory  (lines 48-49)  about why they stay in the forest.

(D)  Nothing in the passage explores why okapis live in one forest rather than another; the author’s concern is why they live deep in forests rather than in other, equally hospitable areas. If anything,  (D)  goes against the grain of the passage, specifically the notion that okapis don’t base their living decisions on the location of preferred foliage, which they often leave uneaten to wander to new areas.

Answer: E

6. Based on the passage, the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

Explanation

Not much to be done here but attack the choices in one order or another, remembering that one and only one of them has been set up to agree with the author’s views.

(A)  All  lines 23-24  tell us is that okapis  “are not as rare”  as was thought.  (A)  goes way too far.

(B) “All the questions”  have been answered? Given how the passage ends? And by those little collars, whose only purpose was to give us a better sense of the okapis’ scarcity?

(C)  ties together  lines 15-17  and  lines 27-29  and is the correct answer: Everyone thought the critters were scarce, largely because of their exceptional camouflage, and the rest of  Paragraph 3  details the  “habits”  that inferably contribute to the hunters’ difficulty in finding them.

(D)  Got to check the remaining ones, just to be sure.  (D)  is pretty bad. It’s factually wrong—okapis love many different plants, assert  lines 33-37 —and it also presumes to answer authoritatively one of the still-open questions with which the passage ends.

(E)  There’s no basis in the passage for making any kind of  “what if”  prediction about okapi numbers, let alone one so unqualified as  (E) . If either theory presented in  Paragraph 4  as to why the okapi avoid the forest-savanna border is correct, then it would seem that their numbers would decrease if they were to forage in this area. Since the author does present these theories as possibilities, we must conclude that  (E)  is far from consistent with the author’s position here.

Answer: C

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

5. The passage provides information intended to help explain each of the following EXCEPT:

Explanation

If your passage roadmap is solid, attacking this  “all/EXCEPT”  question should be something of a snap. Read each choice—each question—in turn; determine where in the passage its topic is discussed; and check whether it’s answered. As it happens, three of the four  “wrong choices” —the questions that the passage does answer—are accompanied in the passage by the word  “because.”  The omnipresence of that Evidence Keyword makes your analysis much easier, we think (The evidence for the question posed in choice  (B)  relies in the passage on the phrase  “is confirmed.” )

(A)  is explained in  lines 15-17.

(B)  Confirmation of the okapi’s place within the giraffe family comes in  lines 11-13.

(C)  is addressed at length in  lines 29-35.

(D) Lines 37-43  answer this one.

(E) ’s the odd man out. We are told what picky eaters the okapis are at lines 37-39, but the author never tells us why that’s so. We get the fact, but no explanation for it, so  (E)  contains the notion that’s not backed up by information and gets the point here.

Answer: E

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following most completely and accurately expresses the main idea of the passage?

No OE is available this explanation is property of Kaplan LSAT. Let me know it this make sense.

Explanation

This passage offers a whole lot of  “ideas” —explanations, theories—about the okapi rather than one all-encompassing one. For that reason, we should expect the right answer to reflect the wide range of the author’s okapi interest. And it does. Whether you attack each choice in turn, or skim through the choices looking for something tempting,  (C)  should jump out as correct. It picks up on the fact that some okapi questions have been answered while some remain, and it gets the scope right:  (C) ’s last five words appropriately identify the specific areas treated in the text.

(A), (D)  Each of these is fatally flawed by its overemphasis of the detail in  Paragraph 2  about the radio transmitters. Both choices imply that the radio technology was useful in answering most if not all of the relevant questions about the okapi, when in fact all the little collars did was track the critters and help to confirm their number and general habitat. The bulk of the passage,  lines 27-58 , has nothing to do with the radio devices; they deserve no place in the Main Idea statement.

(B)  is wrong on a couple of levels. By focusing just on the “questions” about the okapi,  (B)  makes it sound as if the author of the passage never tries to answer those questions...when in fact, of course, answering the questions is the author’s main concern. Also, the questions themselves weren’t immediately  “because of”  how okapi look and their infrequent capture. The questions emerged because this was a new species discovery.

(E)  is too negative and extreme. Many of the questions have been answered, and those answers are present in the text. Also  (E) , like  (A)  and  (D) , unaccountably puts major emphasis on the small detail of the radio-tracking collars.

Answer: C

mSKR · Answer

Dear  Sajjad1994 : Could you help me out here on C.
Actually I didn't choose C because it left an open end with phrase "has also raised other questions"
However in the passage , these questions were tried to be answered : 
- One possibility is that this is a defense against xxx
- Zoologists theorize that okapis xxxx

I found that C doesnot cover the whole passage and that was the main reason for not choosing C
I was more inclined to choose A.

AndrewN  : Sir , your thoughts on this.
( I try LSAT questions because I have gone through most of OG RCs 600-700 , 700+. Actually, I have habit of doing at least one RC everyday. I don't try non-official Qs except LSAT)

Thanks!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

- One  possibility  is that this is a defense against xxx

Possibility is not the synonym of "solution" or "answer" to a question. Possibility could "happen" or it could "not happen". For example, "John has a possibility to pass the exam", Can we infer with logic that John has passed the exam? No. The word possibility mean here is that the answer to the question is still unsure.

Zoologists  theorize  that okapis xxxx.

By just theorizing we are not sure our conclusion will match our prediction, this word here means is that the "Zoologists predicted". A prediction can be right or can be wrong. Still we don't have a concrete answer to the questions or the questions are still there unanswered.

Hope it helps

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  mSKR . The language of even the opening line indicates that questions about the okapi persist:

The present perfect  has presented  would need to be  used to present  or  formerly presented  for the issue to be resolved.

If you seek to summarize the main point of each paragraph, you ought to create a mental map similar to the following:

1—how to classify the okapi
2—how big is the okapi population
3—reasons for seeming scarcity (camouflage, foraging habits)
4—other questions about the okapi

You will note that paragraph four simply presents those questions—i.e. they are open-ended—NOT that definitive answers are presented. Choice (E), in my view, is a good trap answer, but  the questions  lumps all questions about okapis in the passage together, and some of those questions are more recent (since radio tracking started to be used, in 1985, to study the animals). Choice (C) is the only option that stands up to scrutiny, so that is why we should choose it.

I maintain that reviewing GMAT™ RC passages is a better way to prepare for the GMAT™ than to take on LSAT passages, but I am not here to lecture you. Plus, as an aside, I enjoyed reading about the okapi, a departure from some of those dry business passages on the GMAT™.

- Andrew

Hoozan · Answer

AndrewN Sajjad1994 GMATNinja Please could you help me with Q4. Why would one choose E over A? The Explanation for (A) reflects a theory, discussed in lines 49-50, that as far as we know has not yet gained wide acceptance is something I do not agree with because there is nothing mentioned in the passage that makes us believe that the theory is "not yet gained acceptance. Besides we don't know if (E) is widely accepted as well.

Moreover, the entire P4 is based on hypothesis and not hard facts, so I don't see why one is preferred over the other

Hoozan · Answer

Q6 The reason I didn't choose (C) is that the author, by mentioning, Because okapis were infrequently captured by hunters, some zoologists believed that they were rare; however, others theorized that their habits simply kept them out of sight. has separated "hunting" and "difficulty to spot" as two separate ideas. While (C) literally joins these two ideas.

AndrewN Sajjad1994 GMATNinja would be really grateful if you guys could help me out

AndrewN   Sajjad1994   GMATNinja  would be really grateful if you guys could help me out

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 4 
 
Let's start by closely analyzing the theory discussed in lines 49-50.

The theory is attempting to explain why okapis "prefer to remain within forested areas when many of their favorite plants are found in the open border between forest and savanna." In other words, why do okapis live  inside  the forest, if their preferred food is  outside  the forest?

One possible explanation is that okapi were "pushed into the forest" by competition with animals that "specialize on the  forest edges ." So animals that live  outside  the forest (i.e. that live on the forest edges) might have pushed the okapi into the forest.

Let's now examine (A):

According to the theory in lines 49-50, okapis may have been pushed into the forest by animals that lived on the forest edges (i.e. outside the forest). However, (A) says the okapis were pushed into a forest by competition with animals in neighboring forests.

So (A) gets the theory wrong. The theory says that animals who lived  outside  the forest pushed okapis into the forest. But (A) says that okapis were pushed into the forest by animals that lived in neighboring forests (i.e.  inside  forests). For that reason, we can eliminate (A).

Let's now consider (E):

In the last line of the passage, we get another reason why okapis may prefer to live in forests. Namely "okapis are relics of an era when forestland was scarce." If this theory is correct, then okapis chose to live in forests during a time when forests were scarce. Since this matches up with (E), it's correct.

I hope that helps!

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 6 
 
Notice the question isn't asking for a statement the author made directly. Rather, it's asking for a statement the author would "most likely agree with." So the right answer doesn't need to be something the author said  explicitly . It just needs to be something the author would reasonably agree with.

In line 15, we learn that some zoologists thought okapis were rare because "they were captured infrequently by hunters." Later in that same paragraph, we learn that okapis "are not as rare as some zoologists suspected," but that "their population is concentrated in an extremely limited chain of forestland." So if okapis were not as rare as people thought, why were they captured so infrequently by hunters?

The following paragraph provides an explanation. Namely, okapis seemed scarce because "their coloration allows okapis to camouflage themselves even at close range." And if coloration explains why they seemed scarce, it would also explain why they were captured infrequently by hunters.

Reading further in the same paragraph, we get another explanation for the okapi's seeming scarcity -- they do not "travel in groups or with other large forest mammals...choosing instead to keep to the forest interior." In other words, okapis seemed scarce because they stayed in the forest and didn't travel in groups with other animals.

Let's now look at the question:

According to the author, Okapis were infrequently captured by hunters, which made them seem scarce. But in reality, they weren't that scarce. They just had coloration which allowed them to camouflage themselves, and they stayed in the forest interior.

From that, it would reasonable to conclude that okapis were infrequently captured by hunters because of their coloration and their habits, both of which made them difficult to find. Although the passage doesn't  explicitly  connect these dots in one sentence, it would be reasonable to infer by putting together the information above.

So because the author would likely agree with it, (C) is correct.

I hope that helps!

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

The okapi, a forest mammal of central Africa, has presented zoologists

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The okapi, a forest mammal of central Africa, has presented zoologists

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards