Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the a

Question

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the air would be in and around a building with a highly reflective roof surface, as compared to the air in and around a building with a dark roof surface. The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof. Each structure had a roof made of exactly one of the following four roofing materials: tin painted silver, tin painted white, black asphalt shingles, and asphalt shingles painted white. At a time when the outside air was 25°C, the following measurements were taken: roof surface temperature, air temperature six inches above the structure, and air temperature inside the structure.

The researchers hypothesized that, for each category, the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperatures, the structure with the white tin would have the second lowest temperatures, the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature, and the structure with the silver tin would have the second highest temperatures.

BrightOutlookJenn · Accepted Answer

Hi  arkaja11 ,

When GMAT asks for "an inference that could reasonably be made from the information provided", this is similar to asking:
"which of the following is supported by the passage"
"which of the following could be correctly concluded, based on the passage"

In other words, here GMAT is asking you: which of the following can you prove with evidence from the passage?

I would avoid equating it to a "reasonable assumption" as you proposed. For GMAT purposes, it's most helpful to think about an assumption as something the author believes without evidence to prove it. An assumption lacks evidence. Usually, the author then builds their conclusion based (at least partly) on that assumption, which allows us the wiggle room to strengthen or weaken the author's conclusion by proving or disproving the underlying assumption.

Does this help? Let us know.

Best, Jennifer

arkaja11 · Answer

Not sure of the second question if "describes an inference that could reasonably be made from the information provided" = Reasonable assumption.
The word Inference should mean what I can interpret from the experiment and its result.

Or am I thinking totally off?

arkaja11 · Answer

Thanks  BrightOutlookJenn  . I am clear what the statement means.

But then in question 2, the statement "The roofs of each of the structures had the same surface area" cannot be correctly concluded because temperature is not function of surface area. So the answer should be NO, right?

Just for the experiment pupose, I can ASSUME that they are same, but nowhere from the passage I can reasonably conclude that surface areas need to be same.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

BrightOutlookJenn · Answer

Hi  arkaja11 ,

Thanks for following up. I want to stress this:  don't base inference answers on your assumptions . There is actually  evidence  in the passage to support the correct answer.
The passage says:
"The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof."

If the structures are indeed identical except for the different roof materials, then their roofs must be the same size.
Based on the evidence sentence, we could also infer that the square footage/square metrage of the houses is the same, that the walls of House A are the same height as the walls of Houses B, C, and D, etc. We could also infer that the walls of the house A are made of the same material(s) as the walls of hosues B, C, and D.

If the passage tells us the houses are identical except for roof material, we believe it, and this gives us the evidence we need to say that the roofs are of the same size.

I'm stressing this point because  it's important that you always find evidence in the passage to support correct answers on questions like this.  Sometimes you will need to put two sentences in the passage together to get all the information you need, but a correct inference answer will always be based on evidence.

Does this help clarify?

Best, Jenn

Apeksha2101 · Answer

Can somebody explain question 3
The structures were not constructed with any windows or doors.
How is this no? The inference should be Yes.

arkaja11 · Answer

Hi Apeksha,

I cannot find any reason how this can be inferred. What is your reasoning to infer the following?

To infer something, there needs to be an evidence in the passage to support the correct answer.

guddo · Answer

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the air would be in and around a building with a highly reflective roof surface, as compared to the air in and around a building with a dark roof surface. The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof. Each structure had a roof made of exactly one of the following four roofing materials: tin painted silver, tin painted white, black asphalt shingles, and asphalt shingles painted white. At a time when the outside air was 25°C, the following measurements were taken: roof surface temperature, air temperature six inches above the structure, and air temperature inside the structure.

The researchers hypothesized that, for each category, the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperatures, the structure with the white tin would have the second lowest temperatures, the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature, and the structure with the silver tin would have the second highest temperatures.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

A. Evaluate

The researchers hypothesized that the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature in each category. According to the graph, the temperature measurement taken on the surface of the structure with the black asphalt shingles (represented by the solid black bar) was higher than the temperature measurements taken on any of the other roof surfaces. In relation to the other temperature measurements, the temperature measurement taken on the surface of the black shingle roof was therefore consistent with the researchers' hypothesis.

The correct answer is Consistent.

B. Evaluate

The researchers hypothesized that the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperature in each category. According to the graph, the temperature measurement taken on the surface of the structure with the white asphalt shingles (represented by the white bar with diagonal lines) was not as low as the temperature measurement taken on the surface of the structure with the silver tin (represented by the solid gray bar). In relation to the other temperature measurements, the temperature measurement taken on the surface of the white shingle roof was therefore not consistent with the researchers' hypothesis.

The correct answer is Not consistent.

C. Evaluate

The researchers hypothesized that the structure with the silver tin would have the second-highest temperature in each category. According to the graph, the temperature measurement taken on the surface of the structure with the silver tin (represented by the solid gray bar) was lower than the measurements taken on any of the other roof surfaces. In relation to the other temperature measurements, the temperature measurement taken on the surface of the silver tin roof was therefore not consistent with the researchers' hypothesis.

The correct answer is Not consistent.

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guddo · Answer

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the air would be in and around a building with a highly reflective roof surface, as compared to the air in and around a building with a dark roof surface. The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof. Each structure had a roof made of exactly one of the following four roofing materials: tin painted silver, tin painted white, black asphalt shingles, and asphalt shingles painted white. At a time when the outside air was 25°C, the following measurements were taken: roof surface temperature, air temperature six inches above the structure, and air temperature inside the structure.

The researchers hypothesized that, for each category, the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperatures, the structure with the white tin would have the second lowest temperatures, the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature, and the structure with the silver tin would have the second highest temperatures.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

A. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured above the structure with the white asphalt shingles (represented by the white bar with diagonal lines) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken above the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

B. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured inside the structure with the white asphalt shingles (represented by the white bar with diagonal lines) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken inside the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

C. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured on the surface of the structure with the silver tin (represented by the solid gray bar) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken on the surface of the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

Show Spoiler

Attachment:

GMAT-Club-Forum-jybv8pe5.png [ 53.99 KiB | Viewed 7624 times ]

guddo · Answer

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the air would be in and around a building with a highly reflective roof surface, as compared to the air in and around a building with a dark roof surface. The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof. Each structure had a roof made of exactly one of the following four roofing materials: tin painted silver, tin painted white, black asphalt shingles, and asphalt shingles painted white. At a time when the outside air was 25°C, the following measurements were taken: roof surface temperature, air temperature six inches above the structure, and air temperature inside the structure.

The researchers hypothesized that, for each category, the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperatures, the structure with the white tin would have the second lowest temperatures, the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature, and the structure with the silver tin would have the second highest temperatures.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

A. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured above the structure with the white asphalt shingles (represented by the white bar with diagonal lines) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken above the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

B. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured inside the structure with the white asphalt shingles (represented by the white bar with diagonal lines) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken inside the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

C. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured on the surface of the structure with the silver tin (represented by the solid gray bar) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken on the surface of the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

Show Spoiler

Attachment:

GMAT-Club-Forum-jybv8pe5.png [ 53.99 KiB | Viewed 7624 times ]

guddo · Answer

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the air would be in and around a building with a highly reflective roof surface, as compared to the air in and around a building with a dark roof surface. The researchers constructed four identical small structures, with the exception that each structure had a different type of material for its roof. Each structure had a roof made of exactly one of the following four roofing materials: tin painted silver, tin painted white, black asphalt shingles, and asphalt shingles painted white. At a time when the outside air was 25°C, the following measurements were taken: roof surface temperature, air temperature six inches above the structure, and air temperature inside the structure.

The researchers hypothesized that, for each category, the structure with the white asphalt shingles would have the lowest temperatures, the structure with the white tin would have the second lowest temperatures, the structure with the black asphalt shingles would have the highest temperature, and the structure with the silver tin would have the second highest temperatures.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

A. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured above the structure with the white asphalt shingles (represented by the white bar with diagonal lines) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken above the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

B. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured inside the structure with the white asphalt shingles (represented by the white bar with diagonal lines) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken inside the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

C. Infer

The passage indicates that outside air temperature was 25°C when the researchers took the temperature measurements of the structures. According to the graph, the temperature measured on the surface of the structure with the silver tin (represented by the solid gray bar) was less than 25°C. Therefore, at least one of the temperature measurements taken on the surface of the structures was not higher than the outside air temperature.

The correct answer is No.

Show Spoiler

Attachment:

GMAT-Club-Forum-jybv8pe5.png [ 53.99 KiB | Viewed 7624 times ]

Apeksha2101 · Answer

That means you are saying
The structures were  constructed  windows or doors.??

acorreia · Answer

Would it not be plausible in the third question to infer that the small buildings might be next to each other? Afterall if we are measuring air temperature above it, and think of a scenario where they are at their closest proximity to one another (adjacent) would we not likely yield similar measurements and thus undermine the validity of the experiment in that specific regard?

Thanks

Thanks

dejavu3363 · Answer

we dont know whether this structure has door or windows. We cannot infer this from the passage, thats why answer is NO

Akioharu · Answer

can someone explain how 4th question.
the range of temperatures for above was def smaller ..somewhere along 17 to 30. range is 13.
but the mean of inside temperatures would be 18, 25, 25, 30 which is 24.5
hence range option is correct. is my thought process/solution correct?

cheshire · Answer

Yeah, the range is significantly smaller than any of the other options as all the data is around the same value.

Consistent	Not consistent
		Black shingles
		White shingles
		Silver tin

Yes	No
		The temperature measurements taken above the structures were all higher than the outside air temperature.
		The temperature measurements taken inside the structures were all higher than the outside air temperature.
		The temperature measurements taken on the surface of the structures were all higher than the outside air temperature.

	The outside air temperature
	The range of the temperatures taken above the structures
	The arithmetic mean of the temperatures taken inside the structures
	The median of the temperatures taken on the surface of the structures
	The range of the temperatures taken on the surface of the structures

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the a

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Yes	No
		The structures were not constructed with any windows or doors.
		The structures were not constructed in close proximity to one another.
		The roofs of each of the structures had the same surface area.

GMAT Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR) Questions

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine how much cooler the a

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