White tigers are neither a species nor a subspecies, but appear as a result of a recessive trait that rarely occurs in the wild. In the 1950s many zoos deliberately and indiscriminately bred white tigers, but more recently, concerns about the desirability of preserving a trait that presumably hinders tigers` to survive in the wild, and recognition that inbreeding could lead to genetic defects, have caused most zoos to such practices. However, some zoo managers argue that the popularity of white tigers provides income important to the survival of zoo sponsored scientific and conservation programs. They also point out that most of the white tigers captured in the wild were adults, proving that their coloration does not hinder their survival ability. Opponents of white-tiger breeding programs argue that white tigers are merely Indian tigers-a subspecies well represented in both zoos and the wild-and that zoos should focus their tiger management efforts on preserving subspecies whose existence is threatened, thus preventing the Chinese and Indochinese tiger subspecies from joining the Javan, Balinese, and Caspian subspecies in extinction. Alternatively, zoos could mingle the subspecies and manage all tigers in captivity as one species. Although subspecies differences would be lost, this strategy would be advantageous because fewer animals would be necessary to maintain the genetic diversity of tigers in captivity, making scarce zoo resources available for housing other endangered felines. 1 Q1 The passage suggests that, compared with other tiger subspecies, the Indian tiger is A less threatened by extinction B less readily bred in captivity less C likely to survive in the wild D more likely to be bred indiscriminately E more popular with 200 visitors 2 Q2 The "Opponents of white-tiger breeding programs" mentioned in the highlighted text advocate that zoos use their resources to A promote public awareness of environmental threats to tiger habitats B allow zoos to house enough tigers to ensure genetic diversity among Indian tigers C study ways to increase the survival rates of white tigers in the wild D investigate ways of maintaining the white tigers already in zoos E preserve tiger subspecies that may be endangered 3 Q3 The author of the passage suggests that if all tigers in captivity were managed as one species, then zoos would be able to A use their resources to preserve a variety of other felines B increase public interest in tigers and thus attract more visitors and income C provide better habitats for tigers than they currently do D prevent the extinction of existing tiger subspecies E continue breeding white tigers 4 Q4 Which of the following best describes the function of the last sentence in the first paragraph of the passage (see highlighted text)? A To emphasize the importance of white tigers as source of zoo income B To point out the advantages to white tigers of living in the wild C To provide evidence counter to an argument against the breeding of white tigers D To suggest that white tigers living in the wild are less to face extinction than tigers fiving in zoos E To suggest that white tigers are not endangered ID 00098

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White tigers are neither a species nor a subspecies, but appear as

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agrasan

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Hi KarishmaB

Thanks for your response. I was initially confused between option B (To point out the advantages to white tigers of living in the wild) and option C, then I read the passage again and it increased my confidence in option C as I described in my last post.

Do you think there is a flaw or problem with how I finally selected the option C here? I am in learning phase on RC so it's more important for me to know the right process to eliminate wrong options so wanted to confirm.

KarishmaB

agrasan

Hi experts KarishmaB GMATNinja MartyMurray DmitryFarber

I wanted to confirm my approach that I used for question 4 option C.
First passage-1 starts with opposition against breeding and then "however" which is a contrast to the point of view mentioned earlier comes in the argument, and lines after "however" provides evidence by giving facts. This led me to choose option C and I also eliminated other options.

My question is - does close attention on words like "however", etc. play an important role to pick up the option by understanding change in tone/direction of the passage if we are confused between last two choices?

Please let me know if there is any fatal flaw in my process above to choose option C.

Close attention to transition words helps us in our comprehension of what is given. It does help us note the change in tone/direction of the passage. But, we cannot base our answer on transition words in the passage, since all other words in the passage, in the question stem and in the answer options together help us take a call on that. Focus on some specific words could derail your thought process in that case.
In question 4, there is no close option. Which other option did you think could be the possible answer?