When the object designated 1992 QB1 was discovered, news reports

HI GMATNinjaTwo, mikemcgarry, GMATNinja,

In this question, a reporter also expresses the astronomers' excitement about the object.Then Why B is wrong?

2)The passage author implies which of the following about news reports concerning 1992 QB1?

A)They exaggerated astronomers' excitement about the object.

B)They contained inaccurate information about the size of the object.

C)They initially reported that the object was in the Kuiper Belt.

D)They incorrectly identified the object as a planet.

E)They prematurely identified the object as an ice dwarf.

I had some problems in understanding this sentence below. Can anyone help to dissect this sentence please?

These "Ice dwarfs" were thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt, which lies beyond the orbits of the planets 1992 QB1, currently located between the Kuiper Belt and the outer planets and apparently moving inward toward the Sun, Is the missing link that shows that ice dwarfs originate In the Kuiper Belt.

It looks to me that this sentence provides the information below:

1. ice dwarfs thought to originate in KB (does that mean they were actually did not originate from KB? )
2. KB lies beyond the orbits of the planets
3. ice dwarfs currently located beween KB and outer planets
4. ice dwarfs move toward the sun
5. what is the missing link ?what should be the subject of this clause?

When the object designated 1992 QB1 was discovered, news reports suggested that there were now ten known planets in our Solar System. In fact, the object is too small to qualify as a planet; still, its discovery has generated real excitement among astronomers. It confirms the existence of an entire class of objects orbiting the Sun, in addition to the planets, asteroids, and comets.

Astronomers had already suspected that several known objects in the region of the outer planets belonged to a special class of astronomical objects, small bodies composed of rock and Ice. These "Ice dwarfs" were thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt, which lies beyond the orbits of the planets 1992 QB1, currently located between the Kuiper Belt and the outer planets and apparently moving inward toward the Sun, is the missing link that shows that ice dwarfs originate in the Kuiper Belt. It provides a stepping stone in theory, like the transition from always seeing a species of animal In captivity—from which one can hypothesize that such animals exist in the wild—to actually finding them In their natural habitat. Ice dwarfs are not, however, mere oddities to add to the astronomical menagerie. Objects like them were undoubtedly the building blocks of the giant planets.


1. According to the passage, the discovery of 1992 QB1 provided astronomers with information about which of the following?

(A) How ice dwarfs are formed
(B) The place where ice dwarfs originated
(C) The composition of ice dwarfs
(D) The location of the Kuiper Belt
(E) What role ice dwarfs played in the formation of the giant planets

“These "Ice dwarfs" were thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt, which lies beyond the orbits of the planets 1992 QB1, currently located between the Kuiper Belt and the outer planets and apparently moving inward toward the Sun, is the missing link that shows that ice dwarfs originate in the Kuiper Belt.”



2. The passage author implies which of the following about news reports concerning 1992 QB1?

(A) They exaggerated astronomers' excitement about the object.
(B) They contained inaccurate information about the size of the object.
(C) They initially reported that the object was in the Kuiper Belt.
(D) They incorrectly identified the object as a planet.
(E) They prematurely identified the object as an ice dwarf.
“When the object designated 1992 QB1 was discovered, news reports suggested that there were now ten known planets in our Solar System. In fact, the object is too small to qualify as a planet;”



3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) describe research and predict new developments
(B) report a discovery and indicate its significance
(C) explain a theory and its implications
(D) question the validity of a hypothesis
(E) propose a new classification

The passage introduces a discovery of 1992 QB1 and tells us how it was misidentified as planet despite of it being an object. Later the second paragraph talks about how this discovery has helped the scientists.

Hi NandishSS, I am not really sure if you still have this question but let me answer as this may help others in future.

The passage explicitly mentioned that ““When the object designated 1992 QB1 was discovered, news reports suggested that there were now ten known planets in our Solar System. In fact, the object is too small to qualify as a planet;”, which means the information about the size of the object was correct; however, this object was misidentified as planet by them .

I hope this makes sense.

hey experts! what's para 2 talking about? Thanks in advance

Para 1 is talking about the discovery of object "1992 QB1"

Para 2 discusses how the discovery helped the astronomers. (Significance of the discovery in Para 1)

HI workout, u1983, GMATNinja, MagooshExpert

Can you please tag as GMATPrep EP2 not GMATPrep EP1. When I posted the passage there was no GMATPrep EP2 tag.

Also 2)The passage author implies which of the following about news reports concerning 1992 QB1?

A)They exaggerated astronomers' excitement about the object.

Why is A incorrect here?

NandishSS, the tagging issue has been fixed! Thank you for pointing it out.

As for question 2, answer choice (A): the passage states that the discovery of the object "has generated real excitement among astronomers." News reports didn't exaggerate this excitement. Instead, the news reports messed up in a different way. Take a look at this piece of the passage:

This clearly corresponds to the correct answer choice:

I hope this helps!

Hi AndrewN Sir( another meaning problem). please suggest

Astronomers had already suspected that several known objects in the region of the outer planets belonged to a special class of astronomical objects, small bodies composed of rock and Ice.

It cannot imply that what astronomers had already suspected, perhaps they don’t suspect it now. Otherwise what’s the role of this sentence, if we cannot make sense out of it?


In view of this , I chose C and didn’t read further and missed option B - right answer.



CAn you please answer my query on implied meaning and role of this sentence if we can’t infer that perhaps it is not suspected anymore now?
GMATNinja AndrewN AjiteshArun

Hello, imSKR. It is not a good idea in general to decide on the spot that you have found the correct answer. You should be open to the idea that something else might look just as appealing (or, better yet, fit the keywords of the question stem and passage). The line you singled out does not provide the textual evidence you need anyway. Remember, a question framed by according to the passage is a detail question, so you should be able to locate the answer directly in the passage. What astronomers believed at some point in time, whether such a belief changed or remained the same, does not answer the question of what information the discovery of 1992 QB1 provided astronomers. That information is found in the middle of the second paragraph, although the line itself is garbled (mistyped, most likely):

the missing link that shows that ice dwarfs originate in the Kuiper Belt

If that does not touch on (B), I do not know what more we need. I hope the passage gets an edit to perfectly match what appears in the source material, but even with this version, (B) is hard to argue against.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me about this question.

- Andrew

Hello experts sayantanc2k AndrewN

I have a small query.
why option C is wrong because here in passage what ice dwarfs are made of is given.Astronomers had already suspected that several known objects in the region of the outer planets belonged to a special class of astronomical objects, small bodies composed of rock and Ice

Thanks and regards

Hello, kadamhari825. Notice that the first question asks us to tell what the discovery of 1992 QB1 provided astronomers with information about. In the line you quoted, there is no information about the discovery. Rather, we are told what the astronomers had already suspected. (You have to project onto the passage that their suspicions were confirmed by the discovery.) The line that follows continues in the same vein: ice dwarfs were thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt. The verb tense soon shifts to the present to refer to the discovery as the missing link that shows that ice dwarfs originate in the Kuiper Belt. I think the mistyped line in the middle of the second paragraph is creating unnecessary confusion. If I come across the passage in my studies, I will be sure to take a screenshot and request that the passage be edited accordingly.

- Andrew

Hi! Thanks for the question, I just had this question on a GMAT Prep 5 mock exam, please, can someone tell me the level of this question?Low, medium or high? Thanks in advance! Cheers!

The following should be the difficulty level of each question, in my opinion.

Question #1: 600

Question #2: 550-600

Question #3: 500

Overall: 550

For q3. .For primary purpose, I erroneously interpreted the correct answer to mean that they discovered it themselves and such did not select this. How to avoid this in future? Is it only me that this sounds this way to?

Hi experts KarishmaB GMATNinja IanStewart,

In question 1, I understood why option B is the correct one but unable to understand why option D is incorrect as the argument also talks about the location of Kupier belt "These....in the Kuiper Belt, which lies beyond the orbits of the planets 1992 QB1, currently...that ice dwarfs originate In the Kuiper Belt."

Is it wrong because we don't get an idea about the exact location?

The astronomers wouldn't be able to say that QB1 is located "between the Kuiper Belt and the outer planets" unless they already knew where the Kuiper Belt was!

QB1 was NOT discovered in the Kuiper Belt, and its discovery didn't tell the astronomers anything new about the location of the Kuiper Belt itself.

I hope that helps a bit!