Using broad-spectrum weed killers on weeds that are competing with

Question

Using broad-spectrum weed killers on weeds that are competing with crops for sunlight, water, and nutrients presents a difficulty: how to keep the crop from being killed along with the weeds. For at least some food crops, specially treated seed that produces plants resistant to weed killers is under development. This resistance wears off as the plants mature. Therefore, the special seed treatment will be especially useful for plants that _____________ .

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

(A) produce their crop over an extended period of time, as summer squash does
(B) produce large seeds that are easy to treat individually, as corn and beans do
(C) provide, as they approach maturity, shade dense enough to keep weeds from growing
(D) are typically grown in large tracts devoted to a single crop
(E) are cultivated specifically for the seed they produce rather than for their leaves or roots

ID - CR00862

thevenus · Accepted Answer

..... weeds that are competing with crops for sunlight, water, and nutrients ....

Special seeds are weed resistant but the Resistance goes off one they mature, 
(C) says that 
-provide, as they approach maturity, shade dense enough to keep weeds from growing
means they will become self sufficient when grow up and hence can protect themselves even if the resistance goes off which was there by the virtue og the seeds they grew on

BillyZ · Answer

Source : OG2017, CR609, P529

Weed Killers 
 
  Step 1: Identify the Question

The question stem appears before the argument and the argument contains a blank line at the end, signaling a Fill in the Blank structure. These types of arguments are most often Strengthen questions but can also be Inference or Find the Assumption questions.

In this case, the structure Therefore, the treatment will be useful for plants that ______ indicates that this is an  Inference  question. The argument is asking you to complete the conclusion of the argument.

Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument

BSWK diff: kill weeds, not crop?
Some foods: seeds à resistant to WK
BUT wears off over time
SO useful for plants that…?
You’re a farmer. Based on what you know so far, when would you want to use this special treatment? Perhaps on plants that mature really quickly, so that they’re ready to harvest before the resistance wears off?

(Note: that possibility does not turn out to be the focus of the correct answer, but if you do brainstorm something, note it. Sometimes, you’ll realize that you’ve just anticipated the correct answer!)

Step 3: Pause and State the Goal

Inference questions are asking you to find a conclusion that must be true given the information in the argument. Think of yourself as a scientist: what can you scientifically conclude from the given information? (Don’t follow “real-world” principles, where it would be enough to say something is likely to be true. That’s not good enough on the GMAT.)

Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right

(A) This choice is the opposite of what you want, according to the argument. The resistance wears off over time, so a crop that takes a long time to mature is not a good candidate for this special treatment.
(B) The argument doesn’t indicate that the treatment is better if you can treat the seeds individually vs. in a big pile of seeds. Both methods might be equally effective (or it might even be better to be able to treat a big pile of seeds at once!).
(C)  CORRECT . The argument mentions one major drawback to the special treatment: it wears off as the crops mature. If certain crops naturally deter weeds by providing dense shade as they mature, then these crops have another method to counteract weeds just at the point that the special resistance is wearing off. These types of crops combat the one drawback to the special treatment.
(D) The argument does not indicate whether it is better to have crops that are grown in relative isolation.
(E) The argument does not indicate that the treatment works better depending on whether the harvesting of the crop is focused on seeds (for instance, sunflower seeds), leaves (for instance, lettuce), or roots (for instance, beets or carrots).

shreerajp99 · Answer

Why is E wrong? If special seed treatment is for those plants whose seeds are cultivated,then this special seed treatment is ideal for them.

sepandee · Answer

The argument is about seeds that produce plants that are resistant to weed killers, but this resistance diminishes with time. So no weed killer can be used on them after a certain time, but something must be done with the weed. Therefore, it behooves plants that do something crucial before they lose their resistance to the weed killer: they're either cultivated quickly while they have their resistance, or get strong enough to fend for themselves agains the weed so that the weed problem is eliminated without the need to use the weed killer.

Answer choice E doesn't talk about any of this. It's irrelevant. The special...
Oh, I just realized what you are saying. E says the special seed treatment will be especially useful for *PLANTS* that are cultivated specifically for the seed *they produce* rather than for their leaves or roots. It's not talking about the treatment that's applied to the seeds. It's referring to the plants that have grown from those specially-treated seeds and the seeds that THOSE plants produce. Still irrelevant.

semwal · Answer

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

The special seed treatment will be especially useful for plants   that would not need the broad-spectrum weed killers for weeds as they mature... 
 
only "C" PROVIDES THE CORRECT REASON.....
(C) provide, as they approach maturity, shade dense enough to keep weeds from growing

KUDOS IF YOU PLEASE....

Senthil7 · Answer

The question stimulus mentions:
For at least some food crops, specially treated seed that produces plants resistant to weed killers is under development.  This resistance wears off as the plants mature . Therefore, the special seed treatment will be especially useful for plants that ......

So we must search for an answer that would mention that the plant / crop can survive on its own without weeds after maturing which is exactly what C does hence  C  is the right answer.

LogicGuru1 · Answer

The correct Answer is C 
 
 Weed Killer can kill weed at any stage of maturity, but it cannot kill crop when the crop is small and immature <--- Given in question Stimuli 
  Weed killer can kill both weed as well as crop when they are in Mature stage  <--- Given in question Stimuli 
 But then how to kill weed growing with mature crop.  . 
  we cannot apply WEED-KILLER, once the CROP is mature because if we apply killer then it will kill both weed and mature crop <--- Given in question Stimuli 
SO 
 
 Huuuummm.... How about a crop that when fully mature stops weeds from growing.
EXCELLENT:- Can Mature Crop do that.. YES.. Weeds need sunlight to grow , if the CROP can block the sunlight, then weed will die.
 
 What option says that:-
 (C) Plants that provide, as they approach maturity, shade dense enough to keep weeds from growing. <--- Given in question Stimuli

LOGICALLY CORRECT !!

zoezhuyan · Answer

here is my approach
use weed killer is difficult, because both the weed and crop will die if use weed killer.
but, here's a good news, a special treated seed that help plant/crop resistant to weed killer, great, we can use weed killer when plant grow.
while, the special treated seed will wear off when crop mature, then here is a risk that weed start grow if special treated seed wear off.
how to conquer the issue, if we have a sort of plant/crop that can prevent weed growing when plant/crop mature.
how to? prevent weeds getting sunlight, water, nutrient.

C got it.

AlexGenkins1234 · Answer

Ok, lets break down the stimulus:
- it hard to focus the weed killers in areas in which we have a competition for: sun, water, nutrients.
- Seeds that will produce plants with short term strong ammunity to week killers are being developed.
- Conclusion: The treatment will be especially good for...?

-> well, the treatment is against weeds, so it will be especially good in an environment in which you have a lot of weeds, or for plants that grow for short periods of time.

prethink:
- Where will we have a lot of weeds?
- In an area with a lot of competition - > lack of sun, water, or nutrients.

Answer choice C hits the spot.

septwibowo · Answer

Although this is a 600-level question, I need a lot of time to understand the reasoning

However, the answer is C because we talked about the special plant that strong until mature. After it matures, the effect of the special seed is GONE. Therefore, why we can still use it? We can use it for a type of plant that after mature still provide enough protection from weeds. Other options do not talk specifically about the WEED.

TheGraceful · Answer

Thanks. Great explanations - much more comfortable in understanding those when compared to official ones.

HimanshuW11 · Answer

Premises:
1. Using broad-spectrum weed killers on weeds that are competing with crops for sunlight, water, and nutrients presents a difficulty: how to keep the crop from being killed along with the weeds.
2. For at least some food crops, specially treated seed that produces plants resistant to weed killers is under development.
3. This resistance wears off as the plants mature.

Fill in the blank:
 
This starts with a conclusion indicator "Therefore", which means that we need to complete the conclusion for the argument. Leading us to an inference question.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

How can the seed treatment be useful for the plant that produces the crop over an extended period of time? The argument clearly mentions "3. This resistance wears off as the plants mature."
 
Out of scope. Large seeds that are easy to treat....Wooooohhhh where does the author mentions difficulty in the treating on the basis of size of the seed.
 
This dart hits the target. If a plant takes care of itself post maturity, then the treated seed that takes care of that plant until maturity would be a great help.
Keep C
 
Clearly Out of scope, no relevance to the argument. The argument doesn't mention if the crop is grown with other crops or alone.
 
No mention of any such thing in the argument. This goes out.

Probus · Answer

Bunuel ,

Can this tagged to " Complete the Passage " Section

Bunuel · Answer

__________________
Done. Thank you.

Businessconquerer · Answer

Weeds don't grow, so we can say such plants have both resistance to the pest control when young and no necessity of pest control as they themselves stop them from growing when they mature
As option C pretty much sums up

atsdabhay · Answer

How is d incorrect? D says typically grown in large tracts. If the crops are grown in large tracts it would be easier to use weed killers on them as it wouldn’t harm the other plants which would otherwise be growing with them.

Posted from my mobile device

aarkay87 · Answer

Hi Experts,

I didn't understand the stimulus, could you please help?

egmat · Answer

The passage states the following:

Using broad-spectrum weed killers on weeds that are competing with crops for sunlight, water, and nutrients presents a difficulty: 
  Weeds compete with crops for sunlight, water, and nutrients. 
A difficulty arises while using weed killers of broad spectrum type. 
 
how to keep the crop from being killed along with the weeds. 
  The difficulty is not knowing how to prevent killing the crops along with the weeds.

For at least some food crops, specially treated seed that produces plants resistant to weed killers is under development.
   For some type of crops, at least a few of them, a solution is under development.
The solution is specially treated seeds.
These seeds grow into plants that cannot be killed by weed killers.

This resistance wears off as the plants mature.
  For these specially grown plants, the resistance to weed killers decreases to a very negligible level as the plant grows to reach maturity. 
 
 Therefore, the special seed treatment will be especially useful for plants that _____________ .
  This solution of special treated seeds growing into weed killer resistant plants (whose resistance reduces as they approach maturity) will be particularly useful for a segment of plants. Identify which.

KarishmaB · Answer

Problem:   
When a crop is grown, along grow weeds of different types. So we need to use broad spectrum weed killers (say sprays that will kill the weeds). The problem is how to shield the crop from these weed killers.

Solution:   For some food crops, specially treated seeds are being developed. Plants of these seeds will be resistant to weed killers. 
But as the plant matures, this resistance will be lost.

The special seed treatment will be especially useful for plants that ____________

We know that with treated seeds, the resistance to weed killers wears off as the plant gains maturity. So this solution of treating seeds is useful under what condition? If weeds grow only during the intial stages of the crop and not at maturity, then treating seeds is a useful solution. Weed killers will be used only in the  initial phases and the crop will be immune at that time.

(A) produce their crop over an extended period of time, as summer squash does

No. Opposite of what we need. We need the plan to produce its crop (the food) in the initial stages itself because that is when it is immune.

(B) produce large seeds that are easy to treat individually, as corn and beans do

No discussion about the ease of doing this treatment has taken place. Nothing says that individually treating each seed is required and bulk treatment does not work.

(C) provide, as they approach maturity, shade dense enough to keep weeds from growing

Correct. This says that it is useful for plants that provide dense shade as they mature and hence weeds do not grow as the plants mature. Hence weed killers will be needed only in the initial phases of growth of the plant and at that time, they will be immune.

(D) are typically grown in large tracts devoted to a single crop

Irrelevant.

(E) are cultivated specifically for the seed they produce rather than for their leaves or roots

What the food part of the plant is (seeds or leaves or roots) is irrelevant. We need the plant to survive the weed killers.

Answer (C)

Using broad-spectrum weed killers on weeds that are competing with

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Using broad-spectrum weed killers on weeds that are competing with

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