The population of desert tortoises in Targland's Red Desert has declined, partly because they are captured for sale as

[BTGmoderatorDC]

The population of desert tortoises in Targland's Red Desert has declined, partly because they are captured for sale as pets and partly because people riding all-terrain vehicles have damaged their habitat. Targland plans to halt this population decline by blocking the current access routes into the desert and announcing new regulations to allow access only on foot. Targland's officials predict that these measures will be adequate, since it is difficult to collect the tortoises without a vehicle.

Which of the following would it be most important to establish in order to evaluate the officials' prediction?

(A) Whether possessing the tortoises as pets remains legally permissible in Targland.

(B) Whether Targland is able to enforce the regulations with respect to all-terrain vehicle entry at points other than the current access routes.

(C) Whether the Red Dessert Tortoises are most active during the day or at night

(D) Whether people who travel on foot in the Red Desert often encounter the tortoises

(E) Whether the Targland authorities held public hearings before restricting entry by vehicle into the Red Desert.


OA B

Source: GMAT Prep

[Veejayanand]

The population of desert tortoises in Targland's Red Desert has declined, partly because they are captured for sale as pets and partly because people riding all-terrain vehicles have damaged their habitat. Targland plans to halt this population decline by blocking the current access routes into the desert and announcing new regulations to allow access only on foot. Targland's officials predict that these measures will be adequate, since it is difficult to collect the tortoises without a vehicle.

Which of the following would it be most important to establish in order to evaluate the officials' prediction?

(A) Whether possessing the tortoises as pets remains legally permissible in Targland.

(B) Whether Targland is able to enforce the regulations with respect to all-terrain vehicle entry at points other than the current access routes.

(C) Whether the Red Dessert Tortoises are most active during the day or at night

(D) Whether people who travel on foot in the Red Desert often encounter the tortoises

(E) Whether the Targland authorities held public hearings before restricting entry by vehicle into the Red Desert.

This evaluation question, like all evaluation questions, requires you to notice the objective of the plan to be evaluated. That objective appears in the second sentence: to halt this population decline, i.e. the decline in the number of Red Desert Tortoises. Furthermore, the question-stem has asked you to decide whether the measures taken will be adequate to ensure the success of the plan - or in other words, whether it will attain its objective.

A. Whether possessing the tortoises as pets remains legally permissible in Targland. Given that the objective of a plan cannot be separated from the plan itself, this answer is not going to take you anywhere. The plan is to block the current access-routes into the desert, so preventing all-terrain vehicles from damaging the tortoises' habitat. This protection would help to halt the decline in the population of the species. The fact that it may still be legal to possess these tortoises as pets could be an inducement to keep those already caught or even to try to catch more, but this has nothing to do with whether blocking the access-routes will or will not halt the population decline of these animals.
The question is, can the vehicles in question be prevented from entering the desert, or is it impossible to prevent them from doing so?

B. Whether Targland is able to enforce the regulations with respect to all-terrain vehicle entry at points other than the current access routes. If Targland CANNOT enforce those regulations, all-terrain vehicles will be able to enter the desert at will, even though from points different from those targeted in the plan. This would mean that the plan would probably fail: the habitat would continue to suffer and people could continue to poach tortoises.
If, on the other hand, Targland CAN enfore the regulations, the plan would have a good chance of succeeding. All-terrain vehicles could enter neither from the current access-routes nor from any other point. The habitat would therefore be protected from them and the population decline in question could be halted.
These two scenarios guarantee that the plan and the prediction have been evaluated and that B is therefore correct.

C. Whether the Red Dessert (sic) Tortoises are most active during the day or at night This answer could be helpful if we knew whether all-terrain vehicles go into the desert both by day and by night. Since we have no information in this regard, a knowldege of the times when the tortoises are most active would not help to evaluate the plan.

D. Whether people who travel on foot in the Red Desert often encounter the tortoises. Are the people who travel on foot in the desert just traveling, or are they looking for tortoises? Does encountering the tortoises, often or otherwise, mean capturing the tortoises? These matters would need to be made clear if we are to take this answer seriously.

E. Whether the Targland authorities held public hearings before restricting entry by vehicle into the Red Desert. Holding public hearings on a matter whose outcome does not depend on those hearings is irrelevant to whether the plan to save a species by protecting its habitat will succeed or fail.

[gentvenus]

The population of desert tortoises in Targland's Red Desert has declined, partly because they are captured for sale as pets and partly because people riding all-terrain vehicles have damaged their habitat. Targland plans to halt this population decline by blocking the current access routes into the desert and announcing new regulations to allow access only on foot. Targland's officials predict that these measures will be adequate, since it is difficult to collect the tortoises without a vehicle.

Which of the following would it be most important to establish in order to evaluate the officials' prediction?

(A) Whether possessing the tortoises as pets remains legally permissible in Targland.

(B) Whether Targland is able to enforce the regulations with respect to all-terrain vehicle entry at points other than the current access routes.

(C) Whether the Red Dessert Tortoises are most active during the day or at night

(D) Whether people who travel on foot in the Red Desert often encounter the tortoises

(E) Whether the Targland authorities held public hearings before restricting entry by vehicle into the Red Desert.

This evaluation question, like all evaluation questions, requires you to notice the objective of the plan to be evaluated. That objective appears in the second sentence: to halt this population decline, i.e. the decline in the number of Red Desert Tortoises. Furthermore, the question-stem has asked you to decide whether the measures taken will be adequate to ensure the success of the plan - or in other words, whether it will attain its objective.

A. Whether possessing the tortoises as pets remains legally permissible in Targland. Given that the objective of a plan cannot be separated from the plan itself, this answer is not going to take you anywhere. The plan is to block the current access-routes into the desert, so preventing all-terrain vehicles from damaging the tortoises' habitat. This protection would help to halt the decline in the population of the species. The fact that it may still be legal to possess these tortoises as pets could be an inducement to keep those already caught or even to try to catch more, but this has nothing to do with whether blocking the access-routes will or will not halt the population decline of these animals.
The question is, can the vehicles in question be prevented from entering the desert, or is it impossible to prevent them from doing so?

B. Whether Targland is able to enforce the regulations with respect to all-terrain vehicle entry at points other than the current access routes. If Targland CANNOT enforce those regulations, all-terrain vehicles will be able to enter the desert at will, even though from points different from those targeted in the plan. This would mean that the plan would probably fail: the habitat would continue to suffer and people could continue to poach tortoises.
If, on the other hand, Targland CAN enfore the regulations, the plan would have a good chance of succeeding. All-terrain vehicles could enter neither from the current access-routes nor from any other point. The habitat would therefore be protected from them and the population decline in question could be halted.
These two scenarios guarantee that the plan and the prediction have been evaluated and that B is therefore correct.

C. Whether the Red Dessert (sic) Tortoises are most active during the day or at night This answer could be helpful if we knew whether all-terrain vehicles go into the desert both by day and by night. Since we have no information in this regard, a knowldege of the times when the tortoises are most active would not help to evaluate the plan.

D. Whether people who travel on foot in the Red Desert often encounter the tortoises. Are the people who travel on foot in the desert just traveling, or are they looking for tortoises? Does encountering the tortoises, often or otherwise, mean capturing the tortoises? These matters would need to be made clear if we are to take this answer seriously.

E. Whether the Targland authorities held public hearings before restricting entry by vehicle into the Red Desert. Holding public hearings on a matter whose outcome does not depend on those hearings is irrelevant to whether the plan to save a species by protecting its habitat will succeed or fail.

Thanks for the detailed answer! It would be great if we had the time to analyze each question like this....