Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2711:00 AM EDT
-12:00 PM EDT
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
07 Sep 2019, 11:31
Kudos
Bookmarks
B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
79% (01:37) correct
21%
(01:54)
wrong
based on 746
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Earthworms, vital to the health of soil, prefer soil that is approximately neutral on the acid-to-alkaline scale. Since decomposition of dead plants makes the top layer of soil highly acidic, application of crushed limestone, which is highly alkaline, to the soil’s surface should make the soil more attractive to earthworms.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) As far as soil health is concerned, aiding the decomposition of dead plants is the most important function performed by earthworms.
(B) After its application to the soil’s surface, crushed limestone stays in the soil’s top layer long enough to neutralize some of the top layer’s acidity.
(C) Crushed limestone contains available calcium and magnesium, both of which are just as vital as earthworms to healthy soil.
(D) By itself, acidity of soil does nothing to hasten decomposition of dead plants.
(E) Alkaline soil is significantly more likely to benefit from an increased earthworm population than is highly acidic soil.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) As far as soil health is concerned, aiding the decomposition of dead plants is the most important function performed by earthworms.
(B) After its application to the soil’s surface, crushed limestone stays in the soil’s top layer long enough to neutralize some of the top layer’s acidity.
(C) Crushed limestone contains available calcium and magnesium, both of which are just as vital as earthworms to healthy soil.
(D) By itself, acidity of soil does nothing to hasten decomposition of dead plants.
(E) Alkaline soil is significantly more likely to benefit from an increased earthworm population than is highly acidic soil.
dcummins
Joined: 14 Feb 2017
Last visit: 16 Mar 2026
Posts: 1,021
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 368
Location: Australia
Concentration: Technology, Strategy
Schools: INSEAD Sept'21 Intake (WA$$$) Melbourne (A$$$$) AGSM (A$$$$) Kellogg '23 (WL) Said '22 (A$$$$) CBS '23 (D) Booth '23 (WA) Anderson '23 (WA) Cambridge '22 (WL) LBS '23 (D) Stern '24 (WA)
GMAT 1: 560 Q41 V26
GMAT 2: 550 Q43 V23
GMAT 3: 650 Q47 V33
GMAT 4: 650 Q44 V36
GMAT 5: 600 Q38 V35
GMAT 6: 710 Q47 V41
WE:Management Consulting (Consulting)
Products:
Schools: INSEAD Sept'21 Intake (WA$$$) Melbourne (A$$$$) AGSM (A$$$$) Kellogg '23 (WL) Said '22 (A$$$$) CBS '23 (D) Booth '23 (WA) Anderson '23 (WA) Cambridge '22 (WL) LBS '23 (D) Stern '24 (WA)
GMAT 6: 710 Q47 V41
Posts: 1,021
Kudos:
2,379
13 Sep 2019, 23:59
Kudos
Bookmarks
The argument is that application of crushed limestone to the soil's surface will make the soil more attractive to earthworms.
This is based on the fact decomposing dead plants make the top layer highly acidic and earthworms are vital to soil health.
A - is incorrect because we don't know the relationship between aiding decomposition and "soil health"
B - correct. If the limestone doesn't stay long enough to neutralise the acid then it won't make the soil more attractive earthworms, so B must be true in order for the argument to ve true.
C - we don't know anything about Ca or Mg and it's implication to neutrality or soil health.
D - This doesn't need to be true for the author to arrive at his conclusion concerning the soil surface.
E - We don't know this. We are told that neutral soil attract earthworms, not alkaline or acidic. Incorrect
This is based on the fact decomposing dead plants make the top layer highly acidic and earthworms are vital to soil health.
A - is incorrect because we don't know the relationship between aiding decomposition and "soil health"
B - correct. If the limestone doesn't stay long enough to neutralise the acid then it won't make the soil more attractive earthworms, so B must be true in order for the argument to ve true.
C - we don't know anything about Ca or Mg and it's implication to neutrality or soil health.
D - This doesn't need to be true for the author to arrive at his conclusion concerning the soil surface.
E - We don't know this. We are told that neutral soil attract earthworms, not alkaline or acidic. Incorrect
12 Mar 2023, 19:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
In any question asking for a necessary assumption, the Denial Test can be used to verify the correct answer.
To make our earthworms happy, the author of this argument suggests that we should apply crushed limestone to the soil's surface. Examining the evidence, we see that earthworms prefer neutral soil on the acid-alkaline scale and that decomposing plants make the top layer of soil highly acidic. The author must assume that crushed limestone makes the soil more attractive to earthworms by neutralizing the acid on the surface. This is what (B) says. Not sure about (B)? Try the Denial Test. If (B) is false, crushed limestone won't stay in the soil's top layer long enough to neutralize its acid. In that case, the author would be unable to draw his conclusion that the soil would become more earthworm friendly. Denying the truth of a necessary assumption will always make the argument fall apart. Since the argument can't survive without (B), we know it must be a necessary assumption and, therefore, correct.
(A) ventures outside the scope by telling us that the essential function performed by earthworms is to help decompose dead plants. That's lovely, but even if earthworms' sole function in life were to play polka music, the author could still argue that crushed limestone will help make the soil more earthworm-friendly. Because the argument can work without (A), it is not necessary to the argument, and it has to be eliminated.
(C) No matter what the contents of crushed limestone are and how important those contents are to healthy soil or earthworm, (C) doesn't allow the author to conclude that crushed limestone makes the soil more palatable to earthworms. If the acid in the soil deters them, the worms won't be able to get the chemicals from the limestone anyway.
(D) is completely unnecessary to the argument because it doesn't contain either of the most important terms in the argument: crushed limestone and earthworms. Denying the truth of this answer will leave the argument unharmed, so (D) can't be our necessary assumption.
(E) The author here is not interested in what kind of soil will benefit from earthworms but in whether or not earthworms will be attracted to the soil if crushed limestone is applied to it. (E) also draws an irrelevant comparison between alkaline and acidic soil, which is certainly not essential to the argument.
To make our earthworms happy, the author of this argument suggests that we should apply crushed limestone to the soil's surface. Examining the evidence, we see that earthworms prefer neutral soil on the acid-alkaline scale and that decomposing plants make the top layer of soil highly acidic. The author must assume that crushed limestone makes the soil more attractive to earthworms by neutralizing the acid on the surface. This is what (B) says. Not sure about (B)? Try the Denial Test. If (B) is false, crushed limestone won't stay in the soil's top layer long enough to neutralize its acid. In that case, the author would be unable to draw his conclusion that the soil would become more earthworm friendly. Denying the truth of a necessary assumption will always make the argument fall apart. Since the argument can't survive without (B), we know it must be a necessary assumption and, therefore, correct.
(A) ventures outside the scope by telling us that the essential function performed by earthworms is to help decompose dead plants. That's lovely, but even if earthworms' sole function in life were to play polka music, the author could still argue that crushed limestone will help make the soil more earthworm-friendly. Because the argument can work without (A), it is not necessary to the argument, and it has to be eliminated.
(C) No matter what the contents of crushed limestone are and how important those contents are to healthy soil or earthworm, (C) doesn't allow the author to conclude that crushed limestone makes the soil more palatable to earthworms. If the acid in the soil deters them, the worms won't be able to get the chemicals from the limestone anyway.
(D) is completely unnecessary to the argument because it doesn't contain either of the most important terms in the argument: crushed limestone and earthworms. Denying the truth of this answer will leave the argument unharmed, so (D) can't be our necessary assumption.
(E) The author here is not interested in what kind of soil will benefit from earthworms but in whether or not earthworms will be attracted to the soil if crushed limestone is applied to it. (E) also draws an irrelevant comparison between alkaline and acidic soil, which is certainly not essential to the argument.
