In a forest often visited by the residents of a small town bordering

Question

In a forest often visited by the residents of a small town bordering it, a plant was discovered that is believed to have been accidentally introduced by colonialists who tried to grow foreign vegetables in the area. The plant carries a potent neurotoxin, and upon digestion is capable of killing small to medium-sized animals. To cease the dwindling population of a small deer species that populates the forest, authorities are planning to erect explanatory signs at all the main entrances to the forest pleading to visitors to uproot and dispose of any such plants if identified.

Which of the following, if true, provides the most solid reason to expect that the authorities' plan will succeed?

Which of the following, if true, provides the most solid reason to expect that the authorities' plan will succeed?

(A) A glass recycling project that was initiated by the authorities of the town had very successful results primarily because of the enthusiastic cooperation of the townspeople, who were offered small monetary incentives.

(B) The elimination of the plants is imperative since the sap carrying the active neurotoxin that can be absorbed by the skin, oozes from picked leaves and results in cardiac symptoms, often fatal to humans.

(C) The emblem of the town, a yellow and cobalt blue coat of arms, has in its center a stylized image of the deer species that inhabits the forest, and appears on municipal buildings, statues, and documents.

(D) Continuing an age-old tradition started by the founders of the town, many townspeople engage in the breeding of dogs and can often be seen strolling the vicinity with two or three of their prized animals.

(E) Mysterious to foreigners, the forest is a territory well-known to the townspeople, who as youths often wander through it, becoming familiar with the countless hidden paths leading into it.

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agrasan · Answer

Hi  Bunuel  
Can you please provide the official explanation for this question?

lakshaykaushal11 · Answer

Answer should be A as it truly strengthens the argument that people have done similar act before, cooperating with authorities. Option D is not the correct answer in my opinion.

Bhavya3424 · Answer

Bro, initially A appears to be the most suitable answer but when we will do deep analysis we can say that people are used to take their dogs near the forest and since in the forest there was that plant upon which consumption medium sized animal may die.

It may be possible that many people's dog have eaten that plant so the owners will definitely support to remove the plant and since dog breeding was age old tradition, so most of the people will be following it.

Hence D completely justifies to be the correct answer.

Hope you all understood initially I also marked A bit later realised why D is correct.....

APram · Answer

A can be eliminated because it points out paradigm shift. Anything that happened earlier may or may not happen at current situation.

Akrodis · Answer

The answer is clearly D.

Option A states that there was a small monetary incentive involved for the glass recycling, which is absent in the discussed scenario. The glass recycling could have been success due to the monetary incentives.

Okaychalobye · Answer

Answer is not A since it mentions monetary benefit which is not talked about in the question.

Meghna_Gupta · Answer

Hi Bunuel,
 
Can you please provide official explanation to this question ?

anushree01 · Answer

That helps, it was a nice question

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

In a forest often visited by the residents of a small town bordering it, a plant was discovered that is believed to have been accidentally introduced by colonialists who tried to grow foreign vegetables in the area. The plant carries a potent neurotoxin, and upon digestion is capable of killing small to medium-sized animals. To cease the dwindling population of a small deer species that populates the forest, authorities are planning to erect explanatory signs at all the main entrances to the forest pleading to visitors to uproot and dispose of any such plants if identified.

Which of the following, if true, provides the most solid reason to expect that the authorities' plan will succeed?

Which of the following, if true, provides the most solid reason to expect that the authorities' plan will succeed?

(A) A glass recycling project that was initiated by the authorities of the town had very successful results primarily because of the enthusiastic cooperation of the townspeople, who were offered small monetary incentives.

Incorrect.

To solve this Conclusion Strengthening question, first break down the argument. The first two sentences are premises which provide factual data; the last sentence mentions the authorities' plan, which is the argument's conclusion:

Premise A: a non-indigenous plant was found in a forest that is often visited by people from a nearby town
 +
Premise B: the plant is poisonous and can kill small to medium-sized animals
 =
Authorities' plan: to put up signs asking that visitors that see the plant, uproot it and take it away in order to save the deer in the forest

Possible assumption: visitors to the forest will be motivated to meet the authorities' plea

Strengthening Data: ?

You are required to find data that supports the authorities' plan to save the dying deer population by putting up signs telling people to destroy the poisonous plant. The correct answer could be one that confirms the argument's assumption.

This answer choice neither strengthens nor weakens the authorities' plan. The phrase  offered small monetary incentives  tells us that the people were given money for participating in the glass recycling project. However, the plan to save the deer offers no monetary reward for cooperation. Therefore, we cannot use this data to support the authorities' plan.

(B) The elimination of the plants is imperative since the sap carrying the active neurotoxin that can be absorbed by the skin, oozes from picked leaves and results in cardiac symptoms, often fatal to humans.

Incorrect.

This answer choice weakens the authorities' plan. If the plant's poison can be absorbed by the skin, and is strong enough to kill a human, then it is far more likely that people would refrain from handling the plants, and that the plan will fail.

(C) The emblem of the town, a yellow and cobalt blue coat of arms, has in its center a stylized image of the deer species that inhabits the forest, and appears on municipal buildings, statues, and documents.

Incorrect.

This answer choice neither strengthens nor weakens the authorities' plan. Although the deer may be a significant image to the town and its people, we cannot know if the specific plan described in the argument will work because of this. This statement does nothing to support the idea of putting up signs at the entrances to the forest.

(D) Continuing an age-old tradition started by the founders of the town, many townspeople engage in the breeding of dogs and can often be seen strolling the vicinity with two or three of their prized animals.

This answer choice provides support for the authorities' plan by confirming the assumption. We are told here that the townspeople own dogs and often walk with them. The argument tells us that the plant can kill animals. Therefore, it is likely that the townspeople will want to participate in the project not only to help the deer, but also to protect their own prized (beloved) dogs from the plant.

(E) Mysterious to foreigners, the forest is a territory well-known to the townspeople, who as youths often wander through it, becoming familiar with the countless hidden paths leading into it.

Incorrect.

To solve this Conclusion Strengthening question, first break down the argument. The first two sentences are premises which provide factual data; the last sentence mentions the authorities' plan, which is the argument's conclusion:

Premise A: a non-indigenous plant was found in a forest that is often visited by people from a nearby town
 +
Premise B: the plant is poisonous and can kill small to medium-sized animals
 =
Authorities' plan: to put up signs asking that visitors that see the plant, uproot it and take it away in order to save the deer in the forest

Possible assumption: visitors to the forest will be motivated to meet the authorities' plea

Strengthening Data: ?

You are required to find data that supports the authorities' plan to save the dying deer population by putting up signs telling people to destroy the poisonous plant. The correct answer could be one that confirms the argument's assumption.

This answer choice weakens the authorities' plan. The authorities want to put up signs at all the  main entrance s to the forest. This answer choice tells us that the townspeople know of  countless hidden paths leading into  the forest. It follows that perhaps only a small number of townspeople, if any, will see the signs placed at the  main entrances  since they might be used to using the secret entrances.

In a forest often visited by the residents of a small town bordering

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

In a forest often visited by the residents of a small town bordering

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