Early urban societies could not have been maintained without large

Question

Early urban societies could not have been maintained without large-scale farming nearby. This is because other methods of food acquisition, such as foraging, cannot support populations as dense as urban ones. Large-scale farming requires irrigation, which remained unfeasible in areas far from rivers or lakes until more recent times.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

(A) Most peoples who lived in early times lived in areas near rivers or lakes.
(B) Only if farming is possible in the absence of irrigation can societies be maintained in areas far from rivers or lakes.
(C) In early times it was not possible to maintain urban societies in areas far from rivers or lakes.
(D) Urban societies with farms near rivers or lakes do not have to rely upon irrigation to meet their farming needs.
(E) Early rural societies relied more on foraging than on agriculture for food.

ahabib · Accepted Answer

The first thing you should be careful with is to incorrectly classify this as a "strengthening" question, when the question is actually an inference/must be true question.

Secondly, if we are to summarize the passage it comes down to the following:

Urban Societies require L-S farming, which requires irrigation

(A) Most peoples who lived in early times lived in areas near rivers or lakes. 
 Outside the scope of the passage. There is nothing to indicate this is true. 
 (B) Only if farming is possible in the absence of irrigation can societies be maintained in areas far from rivers or lakes. 
 Again, outside the scope of the passage. We have to stick to the narrow scope of the passage, no outside info is allowed. 
 (C) In early times it was not possible to maintain urban societies in areas far from rivers or lakes. 
 This is re-phrasing the first phrase, therefore, yes this is definitely o.k according to the passage scope. 
 (D) Urban societies with farms near rivers or lakes do not have to rely upon irrigation to meet their farming needs. 
 Outside the passage scope. 
 (E) Early rural societies relied more on foraging than on agriculture for food. 
 Outside the passage scope.

nrby11 · Answer

Hey Can you please why choice A is incorrect ?

Between A and C - C is an extreme choice with "not possible " in the sentence.

auradediligodo · Answer

Hi everyone,

Early urban societies could not have been maintained without large-scale farming nearby. This is because other methods of food acquisition, such as foraging, cannot support populations as dense as urban ones. Large-scale farming requires irrigation, which remained unfeasible in areas far from rivers or lakes until more recent times.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

Pre-thinking:
 We can easily infer two things here. 
#1 Before recent times (early times) urban societies could not flourish in areas far from lakes, rivers or any sort of water source that would enable enough irrigation. 
#2 Now there are ways to get water for irrigation even tough the cities are not close to lakes and rivers. So an answer choice could describe how this can happen.

(A) Most peoples who lived in early times lived in areas near rivers or lakes.
 Not necessarily. This is a requirement for older urban societies. People could have lived thanks to foraging. Hence incorrect

(B) Only if farming is possible in the absence of irrigation can societies be maintained in areas far from rivers or lakes.
 From the argument we can infer that urban societies found a way to get the water for irrigation purposes. Hence incorrect

(C) In early times it was not possible to maintain urban societies in areas far from rivers or lakes.
 In line with pre-thinking. Hence correct

(D) Urban societies with farms near rivers or lakes do not have to rely upon irrigation to meet their farming needs.
 They rely on it according to the passage. Hence incorrect

(E) Early rural societies relied more on foraging than on agriculture for food.
 Cannot be inferred from the information given.Hence incorrect

GMATNinja · Answer

Having strong language does not automatically disqualify an answer choice. This doesn't sound sexy, but to answer the question, we need to evaluate the exact meaning of each option and see whether it is supported by the passage. Reacting to "strong language" is not a great shortcut.

First look at (C):
 
It is true that (C) uses strong language -- but so does the passage!

We know that urban societies  "could not have been maintained  without large-scale farming."

We also know that "large-scale farming  requires  irrigation."

Finally, we know that irrigation " remained unfeasible  in areas far from rivers or lakes until recent times."

From these facts, it follows that in early times it was  not possible  to maintain cities far from rivers or lakes. The passage leaves no wiggle room -- without exception, urban societies needed to be located near rivers or lakes. (C) is the correct answer.

Now take a look at (A):
 
The passage tells us that early  urban societies  required large-scale farming, large-scale farming required irrigation, and irrigation was only feasible near a river or lake.

However, the passage  does not tell us that  most people  lived in urban societies  -- it is possible that only a small portion of the population lived in cities, while the rest lived in smaller communities (which may or may not have required the presence of a river or lake). So, we cannot infer that most people lived near a river or lake.
 
We can eliminate (A) because it is not supported by the information in the passage.

I hope that helps!

nikitamaheshwari · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja  - Can you explain option choice B and D?
Also, only if shows the condition is necessary?

KarishmaB · Answer

Let's first evaluate the argument.

In early times,
rivers or lakes nearby were necessary for irrigation.
Irrigation is necessary for large scale farming.
Large scale farming is necessary for urban societies.

So rivers and lakes nearby were necessary for urban societies.

We need a conclusion from the options.

(A) Most peoples who lived in early times lived in areas near rivers or lakes.

Not necessary. We are talking about urban societies only.

(B) Only if farming is possible in the absence of irrigation can societies be maintained in areas far from rivers or lakes.

The argument talks about what was possible in early times. What is possible today could be different. Farming may still need irrigation but can be done in areas far away from lakes and rivers these days using pipelines etc.

(C) In early times it was not possible to maintain urban societies in areas far from rivers or lakes.

Correct. In early times, nearby lakes or rivers were necessary for urban societies.

(D) Urban societies with farms near rivers or lakes do not have to rely upon irrigation to meet their farming needs.

Again, this is not talking about early times. None of the necessary conditions may be necessary in modern times.

(E) Early rural societies relied more on foraging than on agriculture for food.

The argument doesn't tell us this.

Answer (C)

VerbalBot · Answer

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Early urban societies could not have been maintained without large

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