Many countries have traditionally used surface-irrigation systems, whi

Question

Many countries have traditionally used surface-irrigation systems, which use gravity to distribute water over the soil surface. But these systems contribute significantly to groundwater depletion. Many of these countries’ governments are not regulating such groundwater extraction properly, resulting in water table depletion in many regions. Therefore governments need to introduce new water-management policies that will curtail such practices, control allocations of water to agriculture and industry, and enable the governments to reduce those allocations when supplies become scarce or demand from other sectors increases.

Select for Cause and Consequence the options such that the information provided most strongly suggests that if the cause occurs, the consequence is likely to occur. Make only two selections, one in each column.

FrozenDragon · Answer

Answer Explanation (Official):

Evaluate 
 
We’re told that many countries’ governments are not regulating groundwater extraction properly, and that this has resulted in water table depletion in many regions. This strongly suggests that if the governments don’t change their water-management policies, the same trend will continue. That is, if these governments fail to enact new water-management policies, the likely consequence will be continued depletion of groundwater supplies in some regions.

Cause:

The correct answer is Governments failing to enact new water-management policies.

Consequence:

The correct answer is Depletion of groundwater supplies in some regions.

Edskore · Answer

Good explanations. Let me add how I'd approach this one systematically. Two-Part Analysis questions test whether you can break a complex situation into two independent parts and evaluate the evidence for each.

Here's my process:

First, identify what the argument structure is. The prompt talks about a problem (groundwater depletion from surface irrigation) and governments' response. So I'm looking for: what caused the problem? What's the consequence if action isn't taken?

Next, read the options carefully. For the "Cause" column, you're testing whether the option actually explains why surface irrigation causes groundwater depletion. Governments failing to regulate extraction doesn't directly cause surface irrigation systems to exist (they already do). It explains why the depletion continues unchecked. That's the right cause.

For the "Consequence" column, ask yourself: if the cause occurs (governments don't enact policies), what logically follows? Continued depletion is the direct consequence. Other options might talk about farmer behavior or system efficiency, but those don't follow logically from "governments fail to regulate."

The key trap here is picking options that sound related to irrigation but don't actually fit the cause-and-effect structure. Read each column independently, then verify they work together as a pair.

This framework beats trying to guess. It's worth drilling.

MartyMurray · Answer

Key to getting this one right is not falling into the trap of choosing " Governments enacting new water-management policies" for the first column.

That could be correct, but none of the answer choices names an effect that would result from that action.

Frost777 · Answer

In the given argument it says 'in many regions', but the consequence says, 'in some regions'. That would not matter right?

MartyMurray · Answer

Correct, because "many" is just a specific version of "some."

Many countries have traditionally used surface-irrigation systems, whi

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Cause	Consequence
		Governments enacting new water-management policies
		Governments failing to enact new water-management policies
		Depletion of groundwater supplies in some regions
		Greater allocation of groundwater for agricultural use than for industrial use
		Agriculture and industry voluntarily curtailing groundwater use

GMAT Two-part Analysis (TPA) Questions

Many countries have traditionally used surface-irrigation systems, whi

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

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My Rewards