The Florida panther, known for its distinctive characteristics

Question

The Florida panther, known for its distinctive characteristics, including a kinked tail and cowlicks, is nearing extinction with the help of scientists and government officials. Though once abundant in Florida, by the end of the twentieth century, only approximately 30 Florida panthers remained. Efforts to preserve the panthers had focused on shielding them from human encroachment with the hope that they could develop sustainable numbers to survive as a species. However, pressure from development caused officials to grow impatient and shift their strategy and goals.

In 1995, new breeds of female panthers were brought to Florida from Texas to bolster the population. The change has been dramatic. In 1990, 88% of the panthers in Florida had the distinct kinked tail. By 2000, five years after the introduction of the Texas panthers, not a single kitten born to the Texas females had a kinked tail. The breed known as the Florida panther is now on an expedited, ineluctable road to extinction with the assistance of wildlife protection agencies. If the goal was to have any kind of panther in Florida, it has been realized. Since the introduction of the Texas panthers, the panther population in Florida has risen to approximately 80 mixed-breed panthers. However, this "success" could portend a tragic trend in wildlife management in the United States. We cannot and should not create genetically mixed species as a means of achieving a compromise between the needs of development and a species survival. This type of species tampering is a perversion of the ideal of wildlife management and will irrevocably transform our national landscape.    1 
 1. The primary goal of this passage is to

A. demonstrate the fragility of an endangered species.
B. demonstrate the importance of effective wildlife management.
C. argue that mixing species to ensure a species' survival is wrong.
D. demonstrate the effectiveness of mixing species.
E. limit development in areas with endangered species.

2 
 2. The author supports the central idea of this passage primarily by

A. contrasting the Florida panther with the Texas panther.
B. showing how interbreeding has destroyed the Florida panther species.
C. attacking government wildlife protection policies.
D. showing how human encroachment has depleted Florida's panther population.
E. describing the history of panthers in the United States.

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that

A. extinction is preferable to mixing species.
B. wildlife protection and development are completely incompatible.
C. wildlife protection agencies are in the pocket of development corporations.
D. scientist and government officials are equally disappointed with the results of the experiment.
E. thereisalternatives to interbreeding, but they take longer.

4 
 4. The author suggests that blame for the extinction of Florida panthers rests chiefly upon

A. government officials who bowed to pressure from developers.
B. developers who encroached upon protected areas.
C. scientists who suggested interbreeding as a solution.
D. advocates of species preservation.
E. wildlife agencies that did not act sooner to protect the panther population.

5 
 5. The passage suggests that the author

A. is a former member of the Wildlife Protection Agency.
B. is willing to compromise if it means the survival of a species.
C. is afraid that species tampering will become the norm in wildlife preservation management.
D. believes the government has encouraged species tampering as a means of conducting genetic experiments
E. believes that "sustainable numbers" statistics are not realistic and lead to the expedited extinction of species.

Sajjad1994 · Accepted Answer

Official Explanation

3. It can be inferred from the passage that

Difficulty Level:   700+

Explanation

The end of the  first paragraph  provides the clue to this answer. The Texas panther was introduced because  "pressure from development caused officials to grow impatient and shift their strategies and goals."  This suggests that interbreeding was brought in as a quick fix so that the panther population could grow quickly and development in the area could be approved once the population was stabilized. The author is clearly against interbreeding, but nothing indicates that the author would prefer extinction (choice a). The passage suggests that wildlife protection and development are often in conflict, but does not suggest that they are incompatible (choice b). Development corporations pressured officials to act quickly, but the author does not state that wildlife protection agencies are in the pocket of development corporations (choice c). Nothing suggests how government officials feel about the results of the interbreeding, so choice d is also incorrect.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

4. The author suggests that blame for the extinction of Florida panthers rests chiefly upon

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

Several sentences point the blame at government officials. The first sentence states that the panther  "is nearing extinction with the help of scientists and government officials."  The last sentence in the first paragraph reveals that officials opted for interbreeding because  "pressure from development caused   to grow impatient."  Finally, the third paragraph tells us that the interbreeding was  "a compromise between the needs of development and a species' survival."  Thus, the blame rests on officials who bowed to pressure from developers. The author does not state that developers are encroaching upon protected areas (choice b), and although fingers are pointed at scientists in the first sentence, nothing indicates that scientists suggested the solution (choice c). Choices d and e are incorrect because the passage does not mention advocates of species preservation or suggests that agencies did not act quickly enough. Rather, the problem is that agencies wanted to act too quickly.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

5. The passage suggests that the author

Difficulty Level:   600

Explanation

The  last paragraph  expresses the author's fear that the  "success"  in Florida  "could portend a tragic trend in wildlife management"  and that  "species tampering . . .will irrevocably transform our national landscape."  Thus, he fears that this approach will become a standard in wildlife preservation. Nothing suggests that he is a former member of any agency, so choice A is incorrect. The author clearly does not want to compromise a species' integrity, so choice b is incorrect. The author does not state that he believes in a conspiracy of genetic experiments, so choice d is incorrect. Finally, the realism of sustainable numbers" statistics is not discussed, so choice e is incorrect.

Answer: C

Pankaj0901 · Answer

Hi  Sajjad1994  - I understand the answer to the 1st question, what is the "primary goal". But, I often get confused between the two options in "primary purpose" or "primary goal" questions:
1. One that captures or summarizes the essence of the entire passage in a few words - It should ideally not be limited to a single paragraph.  I've read that this is the correct option. 
2. One that conveys the key message from the passage.  Not the correct option

Here, it seems the answer choice C falls in the Second category.

Can you please through some light on this? Thanks

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello Pankaj0901

Unfortunately, there is no ready-made answer to your question. Every reading comprehension passage has its own story in it, selecting the best answer depends and varies from case to case, Your initial read of the passage should be so strong that you must know the pitfalls each incorrect option has in it.

An answer could be correct in both the above cases, it should be the best among the available five answers. Extreme language, out-of-the-scope generalizability of the sentences, half-right half wrong answer choices are a few examples of the wrong answer choices and the test taker needs to be careful enough to analyze this all.

-An answer choice providing the key point and also not going beyond the scope of the passage could be one of the true answer choices.

-An answer choice that captures or summarizes the essence of the entire passage in a few words but one extreme word can make it out of the scope.

The conclusion is that one needs to keep a sharp eye on every transition and extreme word, for example, some, all, none, every, a few, majority, etc...

Good luck

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. The primary goal of this passage is to

Difficulty Level:   600

Explanation

Although the passage does demonstrate the fragility of an endangered species (choice a) and the importance of effective wildlife management (choice b), the main goal is to argue that mixing species is the wrong way to attempt to preserve an endangered species. This is expressed clearly in the  final paragraph: "We cannot and should not create genetically mixed species as a means of achieving a compromise between the needs of development and a species' survival."  The passage does show that the mixing of species was successful (choice d), but the passage criticizes this point. The author is critical of land development in areas with specific endangered species, but this is not the focus of the passage, so choice e is incorrect.

Answer: C

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 Florida panther, known for its distinctive characteristics

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 Florida panther, known for its distinctive characteristics

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