If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water

Question

If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be no freshwater environment on that planet as bodies of freshwater are produced by accumulation of natural precipitation on land. A planet without any freshwater environment is unlikely to harbour complex forms of life because they require a good amount of phosphorus to be present in absorbable form in their environment.

Which of the following can be inferred from the information provided above?

Which of the following can be inferred from the information provided above?

A. If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, natural precipitation cannot occur on that planet.

B. If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be no dry land on that planet.

C. If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be little phosphorus on that planet.

D. A planet without any freshwater environment is likely to have simple forms of life in abundance.

E. A planet without any freshwater environment is likely to contain no phosphorus at all.

Posted from my mobile device

MartyTargetTestPrep · Accepted Answer

A key aspect of correct answering Critical Reasoning questions is noticing details.

In this case, in order to eliminate C, you have to notice the detail that the passage does not say that phosphorus is not available on the planets described. It says that the life forms require "phosphorus to be present in  absorbable form ," a statement that does not indicate that phosphorus is not present, only that it is not present in absorbable form.

So, C, which says that "there can be little phosphorus," is not supported.

B, however, is supported, because the passage says,"If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be no freshwater environment on that planet as bodies of freshwater are produced by accumulation  of natural precipitation on land ."

If the reason that there is no fresh water is that there has to be land in order for fresh water to be present, it seems that there is no dry land, as B says.

Granted, it may be possible that there is a tiny bit of dry land, but not enough land to support the accumulation of fresh water. At the same time, since none of the other choices follow from what the passage says, and B basically does, we can choose B.

Thakurdas · Answer

According to the argument given, (1) freshwater is produced when precipitation is accumulated on land and (2) if more than 10% of a planet's total mass is water, there can be no freshwater environment on that planet.

We can establish a connection between the two things mentioned above in only one way 》》If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, either no precipitation is possible, or no land (on which the precipitation is to accumulate) rises above water. Option B captures one of these two possibilities.

Posted from my mobile device

Abhigmat2019 · Answer

Optn. C..... as it can be infered w/o any dispute from the last line of the argument.

Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum

Thakurdas · Answer

Option C is meant to mislead you through the mention of phosphorus. The problem mentioned in the argument is not the absence of phosphorus in general but the absence of phosphorus in absorbable form.

Posted from my mobile device

Abhigmat2019 · Answer

Ok....OA is option B.... pls elaborate why B is the ans...

Pranithare · Answer

i marked my answer as c, i was able to easily eliminate D,E and A but not sure how can i arrive at b ? Please explain

gaurav2m · Answer

Please help me to understand why choice A is wrong. According to my understanding, if natural precipitation does not occur then there is no dry land which is same as mentioned in the option B.
Then y we are choosing option B instead of A

Posted from my mobile device

arorni · Answer

Even I have same question, i have also selected A. Can someone please help with this?

Posted from my mobile device

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Correctly answering this CR question requires noticing some key details. One such detail appears in the first sentence of the passage.

Here is that sentence:

If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be no freshwater environment on that planet as bodies of freshwater are produced by accumulation of natural precipitation on land.

Does that sentence say or imply that, if 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there will be no precipitation?

No.

It implies that, if 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there will be  no accumulation of precipitation on land . There could still be precipitation on that planet.

Here's what (A) says:

A. If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, natural precipitation cannot occur on that planet.

(A) is a classic CR trap answer, because, although it is not supported by what the passage says, since it uses words that the passage uses, it may seem to match what the passage says.

GMAT CR is not a word matching game. To get CR questions correct consistently, you have to be very careful and use tight logic.

gaurav2m · Answer

Rraagarwal · Answer

Why not d as fresh water required for comple life forms and not for simple life form

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi

Let us see what the stimulus says about this.

"A planet without any freshwater environment is unlikely to harbour complex forms of life because they require a good amount of phosphorus to be present in absorbable form in their environment."

There is nothing in the stimulus about what is required for simple forms of life. We only know that complex life forms require fresh water (due to phosphorous). It may be that simple life forms require some other conditions which may not be satisfied in the absence of fresh water environment either.

As such, if we ask whether the simple life forms can exist in the absence of freshwater environment, the answer only comes up to be "maybe". We do not get 100% certainty about option (D) from the stimulus, and hence it cannot be a valid inference from the facts given.

Hope this helps.

sarthakk07 · Answer

Can any debrief me the meaning of first sentence after the comma. I am getting confused related to last part.

I was easily able to eliminate C, D and E options but why the answers is B lies in first sentence that I am not able to understand

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Sarthak

The first sentence of the passage states: "If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be no freshwater environment on that planet as bodies of freshwater are produced by accumulation of natural precipitation on land."

We should look at this in three parts - the part before the comma, the conclusion after the comma (please note this may or may not be the final conclusion of the passage) and the premise on which that conclusion is based.

The portion before the comma is very simple, it provides a condition, say, X: " If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water "

The first portion after the comma is the conclusion, which is also the effect, say, Y, of the above condition: " there can be no freshwater environment on that planet "

The last portion after the comma provides the premise, or reason (say, Z), for the conclusion or effect to be true: " bodies of freshwater are produced by accumulation of natural precipitation on land "

So the structure is:  If X, then Y because Z.

I hope this helps.

arya251294 · Answer

What if it is the other way around?
What if there is dry land on the planet but precipitation doesn't take place? Then option A will hold true.

ak2121 · Answer

Here dry is very misleading for me as the statement nowhere refers to "dry" or "wet" land and i dont know but i made myself emphasize on that part on chose a instead of b

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, natural precipitation cannot occur on that planet.
Natural preciptation might occur however the accumlation of precipitation might not occur therefore out

B. If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be no dry land on that planet. 
This is true since if everything is water there definitely exista a possibility of having all the land covered by water

C. If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water, there can be little phosphorus on that planet.
There can be lot of phosphorous however they might not be in absorbable form therefore out

D. A planet without any freshwater environment is likely to have simple forms of life in abundance.
There is a possibility of existence no life form at all therefore out

E. A planet without any freshwater environment is likely to contain no phosphorus at all.
Similar reasoning as C

Therefore IMO B

sanjaysharma2me · Answer

Why is B right. 
Its ok that its says that without land no water precipitation.
But its says freshwater ..not water..what if water accumulation is there ..even thought its not fresh . The wecan negate ans B right its not unanimously correct.

Posted from my mobile device

Blair15 · Answer

I was confused between B and D but finally chose D and got it wrong. The reasoning that everyone has given for D is that nothing is mentioned about "simple creatures" and so that can't be inferred. Isn't that the case with option B as well? we can't say for sure that there is no dry land left. Isn't that too strong a statement for an inference option?

Can someone pls help?

Can someone pls help?

If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water

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 Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

If 10% or more of a planet's total mass is water

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