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Updated on: 12 Jun 2021, 07:07
Originally posted by harishbiyani8888 on 07 Sep 2015, 08:07.
Last edited by Bunuel on 12 Jun 2021, 07:07, edited 7 times in total.
Last edited by Bunuel on 12 Jun 2021, 07:07, edited 7 times in total.
Edited the question.
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B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
65%
(hard)
Question Stats:
56% (01:56) correct
44%
(02:20)
wrong
based on 14610
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A certain cultivated herb is one of a group of closely related plants that thrive in soil with high concentrations of metals that are toxic to most other plants. Agronomists studying the growth of this herb have discovered that it produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test-tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert. Hence, the herb's high histidine production must be the key feature that allows it to grow in metal-rich soils.
In evaluating the argument, it would be most important to determine which of the following?
(A) Whether the herb can thrive in soil that does not have high concentrations of the toxic metals
(B) Whether others of the closely related group of plants also produce histidine in large quantities
(C) Whether the herb's high level of histidine production is associated with an unusually low level of production of some other amino acid
(D) Whether growing the herb in soil with high concentrations of the metals will, over time, reduce their concentrations in the soil
(E) Whether the concentration of histidine in the growing herb declines as the plant approaches maturity
In evaluating the argument, it would be most important to determine which of the following?
(A) Whether the herb can thrive in soil that does not have high concentrations of the toxic metals
(B) Whether others of the closely related group of plants also produce histidine in large quantities
(C) Whether the herb's high level of histidine production is associated with an unusually low level of production of some other amino acid
(D) Whether growing the herb in soil with high concentrations of the metals will, over time, reduce their concentrations in the soil
(E) Whether the concentration of histidine in the growing herb declines as the plant approaches maturity
Herb Growth
Step 1: Identify the Question
The words evaluating the argument in the question stem indicate that this is an Evaluate the Argument question.
Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument
Herb → grows w metals (toxic)
Study: Lots of hist, hist deac metals
Hist allows growth
Step 3: Pause and State the Goal
On Evaluate questions, the goal is to find a piece of information that would be important to know to determine whether the conclusion is valid. The correct answer could either strengthen or weaken the conclusion, depending upon the answer to the question. This argument takes findings from a study and concludes causation. Histidine renders the metal inert (inactive) so histidine allows for growth in soil with metal. What other information would make this assumed causation more or less likely?
Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right
(A) The argument states that the histidine allows the herb to grow in soil with high concentrations of metals. Whether or not the herb can also grow in soil without high concentrations of the metals does not affect this conclusion.
(B) CORRECT. The first sentence of the argument notes that several plants in the family can grow the soil with high concentrations of metals. If not all these plants have lots of histidine, then histidine is less likely to allow for such growth. On the other hand, if all the plants have histidine it is more likely to be the cause.
(B) The levels of other amino acids does not directly address whether histidine is what allows the plants to grow in the soil with high concentrations of metal.
(D) The argument is concerned with the growth of the plant, not how the concentration of metal may be changing.
(E) Changes in the levels of histidine in the plant over time do not directly relate to the conclusion. Even if levels of histidine decrease, there still could be enough histidine to deactivate the chemicals.
Step 1: Identify the Question
The words evaluating the argument in the question stem indicate that this is an Evaluate the Argument question.
Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument
Herb → grows w metals (toxic)
Study: Lots of hist, hist deac metals
Hist allows growth
Step 3: Pause and State the Goal
On Evaluate questions, the goal is to find a piece of information that would be important to know to determine whether the conclusion is valid. The correct answer could either strengthen or weaken the conclusion, depending upon the answer to the question. This argument takes findings from a study and concludes causation. Histidine renders the metal inert (inactive) so histidine allows for growth in soil with metal. What other information would make this assumed causation more or less likely?
Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right
(A) The argument states that the histidine allows the herb to grow in soil with high concentrations of metals. Whether or not the herb can also grow in soil without high concentrations of the metals does not affect this conclusion.
(B) CORRECT. The first sentence of the argument notes that several plants in the family can grow the soil with high concentrations of metals. If not all these plants have lots of histidine, then histidine is less likely to allow for such growth. On the other hand, if all the plants have histidine it is more likely to be the cause.
(B) The levels of other amino acids does not directly address whether histidine is what allows the plants to grow in the soil with high concentrations of metal.
(D) The argument is concerned with the growth of the plant, not how the concentration of metal may be changing.
(E) Changes in the levels of histidine in the plant over time do not directly relate to the conclusion. Even if levels of histidine decrease, there still could be enough histidine to deactivate the chemicals.
sun01
Here is the video explanation of this question: https://youtu.be/EGx8hjT4aCA
I think you have misunderstood the argument a bit. Here is what it says:
Argument:
- A certain cultivated herb is one of a group of closely related plants that thrive in soil with high concentrations of metals that are toxic to most other plants.
So this herb is one of a group of plants. All plants in this group of plants thrive in soil with high concentration of metals. These metals are toxic to most other plants.
- Agronomists studying the growth of this herb have discovered that it produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test - tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert.
We are given that this herb produces histidine which makes these metals inactive.
Conclusion: The herb's high histidine production must be the key feature that allows it to grow in metal-rich soils.
We don't really know what makes the herb flourish in high metal soil. It could be histidine or it could be that it produces 10 other chemicals which allow it to flourish in metal rich soil. Since all these plants are closely related and only they are the ones who thrive in metal rich soils, it is likely that they have some common feature that helps them thrive. We are guessing its histidine. How do we find out whether our claim holds value?
If we evaluate whether the other plants in the group also produce histidine, it helps us. How? If other plants also produce lots of histidine, it becomes more likely that histidine is the one which helps these plants thrive. If other plants do not produce histidine, it becomes likely that they all produce some other chemical which helps them thrive.
Hence (B) helps us evaluate "what is it that allows this herb to grow in metal-rich soils?"
Answer (B)
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07 Sep 2015, 08:28
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harishbiyani8888
(B). Here's why -
(A) -> Whether it thrives in other soil or not is not relevant to finding out if it thrives in metal rich soil because of histidine. This option is out of scope to what's asked.
(B) -> If true, will give us confidence that histidine is indeed a critical component of surviving the toxic metal rich soil. This would indicate that the mentioned herb has something common with other plants that thrive in the patch. Most likely, if this is the case, the common factor is the one that helps them survive.
(C) -> Irrelevant. Consider two cases - A. some other amino acid is produced in large quantities - it may be a compound not related to toxic survival (it could be something that causes leaves to grow bigger, for example). B. some other amino acid is produced in unusually low quantities - this does not help the case of plant surviving because of histidine. What other acids do, or their quantities is not helpful in finding if histidine is the key factor for survival.
(D) -> This is tricky. Suppose metal concentration is reduced over time. Also suppose that this is due to neutralizing effect of histidine. All this says is that the plant reduces concentration of metal. Doesn't say anything about whether histidine is the critical factor in survival. It could be anything else. The effect histidine has on the metal concentration may not be key to the plant's survival. Any other factor (say a toxic filtering mechanism in the plant's roots) may be the most critical. So, histidine's effect on soil is not the most helpful in finding out if histidine is THE most important feature that helps survival.
(E) -> Age of the plant is not in scope for the argument and is not needed to find if histidine is the true savior.
If this helps, help me with kudos!
20 Jul 2021, 08:20
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harishbiyani8888
Solution
passage analysis
A certain cultivated herb is one of a group of closely related plants that thrive in soil with high concentrations of metals that are toxic to most other plants.
- There is a certain herb that belongs to a group of closely related plants. These plants grow abundantly in soils which have high concentrations of metals. For most other plants, this high metallic content of the soil is toxic/poisonous.
Agronomists studying the growth of this herb have discovered that it produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test - tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert.
- Agronomists, who are studying the growth of this herb, have discovered that it produces histidine in large amounts. Histidine is an amino acid. In test-tube experiments, histidine acts on the metals present in the soil and leaves them inactive.
Hence, the herb's high histidine production must be the key feature that allows it to grow in metal-rich soils.
- Therefore, the presence of histidine in large amounts must be the main factor that helps the herb grow in metal-rich soils.
Conclusion:
A certain herb's high histidine production must be the key feature that allows it to grow in metal-rich soils
Based on the fact that:
It produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test-tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert
pre-thinking
Falsification question
In what scenario will the herb's high histidine production not be the key feature that allows it to grow in metal-rich soils?
Given that →herb that belongs to a group of closely related plants
→These plants thrive in soils that have high concentrations of metals.
→For most other plants, this high metallic content of the soil is toxic.
→this herb produces histidine in large amounts
→In test-tube experiments, histidine acts on the metals present in the soil and leaves them inactive
Thought Process
Agronomists credit the production of histidine in large quantities in the herb to be the single most important factor in the survival of the herb in soils that have high metallic content, because most other plants would not grow in such soils. But the other plants of the group to which this herb belongs also grow in the same metallic soil. Possibly then if histidine is responsible for the growth of this herb, then it must be responsible for the survival of the related plants also. But do those plants produce histidine?
Falsification condition#1
What if there were present some other chemicals in higher quantities instead of histidine in the other plants of the group of plants to which this herb belonged?
In that case, it is possible that those chemicals could be responsible for the survival of that group of related plants.
Assumption#1
The other closely related plants also have histidine in similar large amounts.
Falsification condition#2
What if the other closely related plants had evolved certain adaptations that helped them to survive the toxicity of the soil?
In that case, the survival could be attributed mostly to those adaptations (say special roots that help nullify toxicity)
Assumption#2
The group of closely related plants does not have any special adaptations that can be considered as key survival tools.
Answer Choice Analysis
A
The conclusion is that histidine is the reason the herb can grow in toxic soil. What histidine does in non-toxic soil is not of concern here.
Hence, this option is incorrect.
B
The answer to this evaluate question is in line with our pre-thinking assumption#1
Let us put it through the variance test
Yes- others of the closely related group of plants also produce histidine in large quantities
This strengthens our belief in the conclusion
No- others of the closely related group of plants do not produce histidine in large quantities
This weakens our belief in the conclusion. If the other plants of the same group do not produce histidine in large amounts and yet survive in the high metallic soil, then something other than histidine is the key factor helping them survive.
Hence, this is the correct choice.
C
Let us say because of histidine, some other amino acid is impacted in its production. But does that prove that histidine is or is not the key factor behind the growth. Do we know whether this other amino acid which when produced at unusually low levels has any connection with the growth of the herb? No.
Hence, it is not the correct answer.
D
Our goal is to evaluate the causality of growth in toxic soil. What happens to soil once the plant grows is not of importance to the conclusion.
Hence, not the correct option.
E
Say if the answer is yes. Does that answer my query as to whether histidine was in the first place, not responsible in inhibiting the toxicity of the soil and helping the herb thrive? In the growing stage, histidine was present in certain concentrations. We are concerned with that stage of the herb. And this option neither confirms nor refutes the strength of this argument
Hence, this is not the correct option.
