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805+ (Hard)|   Inference|         
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maddy2u
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear Updated on: 21 Mar 2019, 00:41
Originally posted by maddy2u on 20 Dec 2010, 07:48.
Last edited by Bunuel on 21 Mar 2019, 00:41, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

95% (hard)

Question Stats:

51% (02:41) correct 49% (02:38) wrong based on 1111 sessions

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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants along the Great Lakes, have some redeeming qualities. Since the mussels feed voraciously on algae that they filter from the water that passes by them, bags of zebra mussels suspended in the discharge streams of chemical plants significantly improve water quality, even removing some hazardous waste.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported on the basis of the statements above, if they are true?


(A) Zebra mussels arrived in the Great Lakes on transatlantic freighters and, since they have no natural enemies there, are rapidly displacing the native species of clams.

(B) If the mussels spread to areas of the Mississippi River where native clams provide the basis for a cultured pearl industry, that industry will collapse, since the mussels are unsuitable for such use and would displace the clams.

(C) There is no mechanical means available for clearing intake pipes by scraping the mussels from them.

(D) The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels, themselves clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants.

(E) Any hazardous waste the mussels remove from chemical-plant discharge will remain in the mussels, if they do not transform it, and they then must be regarded as hazardous waste.
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E
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 20 Dec 2010, 11:12
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maddy2u
Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants along the Great Lakes, have some redeeming qualities. Since the mussels feed voraciously on algae that they filter from the water that passes by them, bags of zebra mussels suspended in the discharge streams of chemical plants significantly improve water quality, even removing some hazardous waste.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported on the basis of the statements above, if they are true?

(A) Zebra mussels arrived in the Great Lakes on transatlantic freighters and, since they have no natural enemies there, are rapidly displacing the native species of clams.
This is not related to the information given in the given set of facts.
(B) If the mussels spread to areas of the Mississippi River where native clams provide the basis for a cultured pearl industry, that industry will collapse, since the mussels are unsuitable for such use and would displace the clams.
This is not related to the information given in the given set of facts.
(C) There is no mechanical means available for clearing intake pipes by scraping the mussels from them.
This is not related to the information given in the given set of facts.(D) The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels, themselves clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants.
This is not supported by the fact sets given. We are only told that the mussels feed voraciously on algae that they filter from the water that passes by them. We don't know what algae would do if mussels did not eat them.(E) Any hazardous waste the mussels remove from chemical-plant discharge will remain in the mussels, if they do not transform it, and they then must be regarded as hazardous waste.
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This must be true since mussels consume hazardous waste. And we are not told that mussels discharge the hazardous waste that they consumed.

IMO answer is E.
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 03 Feb 2011, 11:34
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maddy2u
Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants along the Great Lakes, have some redeeming qualities. Since the mussels feed voraciously on algae that they filter from the water that passes by them, bags of zebra mussels suspended in the discharge streams of chemical plants significantly improve water quality, even removing some hazardous waste.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported on the basis of the statements above, if they are true?

(A) Zebra mussels arrived in the Great Lakes on transatlantic freighters and, since they have no natural enemies there, are rapidly displacing the native species of clams.
(B) If the mussels spread to areas of the Mississippi River where native clams provide the basis for a cultured pearl industry, that industry will collapse, since the mussels are unsuitable for such use and would displace the clams.
(C) There is no mechanical means available for clearing intake pipes by scraping the mussels from them.
(D) The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels, themselves clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants.
(E) Any hazardous waste the mussels remove from chemical-plant discharge will remain in the mussels, if they do not transform it, and they then must be regarded as hazardous waste.
Show more


A) Eliminate : Transatlantic freighters...new info
B) Eliminate : Mississippi River..new info
C) Eliminate : Clearing intake pipes..No mention of this has been made in the stimulus.
D) Eliminate : The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels,
Bold part here is an assumption made... and hence this answer is incorrect as whatever is said in the stimulus is taken as TRUE.
E) Correct answer: Just an extension to the last line but not to a great extent. This seems pretty obvious.

Your suggestions are always welcomed.

Thanks,
-V
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 03 Feb 2011, 13:54
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OA is E ..

This is not a Must be true question . It is just that among the answer choices, E is the best answer choice which can be supported by the passage.
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 13 Apr 2011, 03:44
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maddy2u
Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants along the Great Lakes, have some redeeming qualities. Since the mussels feed voraciously on algae that they filter from the water that passes by them, bags of zebra mussels suspended in the discharge streams of chemical plants significantly improve water quality, even removing some hazardous waste.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported on the basis of the statements above, if they are true?

(A) Zebra mussels arrived in the Great Lakes on transatlantic freighters and, since they have no natural enemies there, are rapidly displacing the native species of clams.
(B) If the mussels spread to areas of the Mississippi River where native clams provide the basis for a cultured pearl industry, that industry will collapse, since the mussels are unsuitable for such use and would displace the clams.
(C) There is no mechanical means available for clearing intake pipes by scraping the mussels from them.
(D) The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels, themselves clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants.
(E) Any hazardous waste the mussels remove from chemical-plant discharge will remain in the mussels, if they do not transform it, and they then must be regarded as hazardous waste.


A) Eliminate : Transatlantic freighters...new info
B) Eliminate : Mississippi River..new info
C) Eliminate : Clearing intake pipes..No mention of this has been made in the stimulus.
D) Eliminate : The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels,
Bold part here is an assumption made... and hence this answer is incorrect as whatever is said in the stimulus is taken as TRUE.
E) Correct answer: Just an extension to the last line but not to a great extent. This seems pretty obvious.

Your suggestions are always welcomed.

Thanks,
-V
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Feb seems to be a long time.. Am sorry for dropping in so late.. have a query regarding the explanation given by Vineet here...

Since option D was eliminated on the basis of it having an assumption "if not consumed..." in the option, option E also has a similar assumption " if they do not transform it" ... So why does this option be true instead of D??

Secondly, Manhattan review says that Draw a Conclusion question type,
requires us to find something that must be true according to the given premises, not
something that could be true or merely sounds reasonable. So in this case option E predicts by using the word "will" in its option.

So how is E, the correct answer choice???
Can anyone explain me the logic???

Thanks.
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 15 Apr 2011, 02:26
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Well, IMO, answer should be D and not E

Not E because the premise says mussels are EVEN removing hazardouz waste, and presents it as a good thing (remember, the premise says mussels have REDEEMING qualities).
E answer sounds like finally mussels become dangerous when they eat hazardous waste, this is a contradiction of the premise.

D because "if not consumed by the mussels" is not an assumption : this answer just describe the situation where mussels are removed form the staff of the plant : then algae finally also clog pipes.
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 01 May 2011, 05:41
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E is the answer.@saku your reasoning is flawed . the zebra mussels (whatever that means) improve the water quality by removing hazardous waste from the water. that they improve the quality of water is their redeeming quality.

now as the quality of water is improved , that water has no business in this question, but the zebra mussels still have the hazardous waste inside them. if that waste is not transformed , and it is still present in the same amount inside zebra muscles , the zebra muscles are themselves hazardous now, in equal amount as hazardous waste was.

so E is the answer.
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 08 Jun 2012, 03:51
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maddy2u
Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants along the Great Lakes, have some redeeming qualities. Since the mussels feed voraciously on algae that they filter from the water that passes by them, bags of zebra mussels suspended in the discharge streams of chemical plants significantly improve water quality, even removing some hazardous waste.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported on the basis of the statements above, if they are true?

(A) Zebra mussels arrived in the Great Lakes on transatlantic freighters and, since they have no natural enemies there, are rapidly displacing the native species of clams.
(B) If the mussels spread to areas of the Mississippi River where native clams provide the basis for a cultured pearl industry, that industry will collapse, since the mussels are unsuitable for such use and would displace the clams.
(C) There is no mechanical means available for clearing intake pipes by scraping the mussels from them.
(D) The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels, themselves clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants.
(E) Any hazardous waste the mussels remove from chemical-plant discharge will remain in the mussels, if they do not transform it, and they then must be regarded as hazardous waste.
Show more

Responding to a pm:

This is not a conclusion question per se. It is only asking you for the option which is best supported by the premises. Something that is most probable to be true based on the given premises. Since the premises tell us that the mussels remove some hazardous waste from the water, so they must have the waste inside them and if they don't transform it into non-hazardous, the mussels themselves must be hazardous. It is something we can 'infer' from the premises.
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 02 Nov 2014, 04:26
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maddy2u
Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants along the Great Lakes, have some redeeming qualities. Since the mussels feed voraciously on algae that they filter from the water that passes by them, bags of zebra mussels suspended in the discharge streams of chemical plants significantly improve water quality, even removing some hazardous waste.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported on the basis of the statements above, if they are true?

(A) Zebra mussels arrived in the Great Lakes on transatlantic freighters and, since they have no natural enemies there, are rapidly displacing the native species of clams.
(B) If the mussels spread to areas of the Mississippi River where native clams provide the basis for a cultured pearl industry, that industry will collapse, since the mussels are unsuitable for such use and would displace the clams.
(C) There is no mechanical means available for clearing intake pipes by scraping the mussels from them.
(D) The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels, themselves clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants.
(E) Any hazardous waste the mussels remove from chemical-plant discharge will remain in the mussels, if they do not transform it, and they then must be regarded as hazardous waste.
Show more

I got this one right by elimination.
A - transatlantic freighters - New Info, so wrong
B - native clams - New info, we only know about Algae and hazardous waste - Wrong
C - The passages discusses that the mussels are a mess, but didn't point out that that there's are no means to clean them.
D - No. The algae is filtered from water. It doesn't mean that the algae would clog the pipelines
E - This can be deduced. Mussels consume the hazardous waste and if they don't process the waste, the mussels would be regarded as hazardous. Ans
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 04 May 2017, 19:34
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D is wrong - out of scope- we are interested in activity of ZM not Algae. We don't know the algae's activity.
E is the only option which is talking about activity of ZM .
A B are out of scope. C is extreme.

IMO its E
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 03 Nov 2019, 20:17
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Why is D wrong?
"(D) The algae on which the mussels feed would, if not consumed by the mussels, themselves clog the intake pipes of nuclear power plants and water plants."
it is mentioned in the passage?
Did i miss something?
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Zebra mussels, a nuisance when they clog the intake pipes of nuclear 15 Mar 2025, 21:11
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