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flowering plant species

by hemant_rajput » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:39 am
26.Some flowering plant species, entirely dependent on bees for pollination, lure their pollinators with abundant nectar and pollen, which are the only source of food for bees. Often the pollinating species is so highly adapted that it can feed from - and thus pollinate - only a single species of plant. Similarly, some plant species have evolved flowers that only a single species of bee can pollinate - an arrangement that places the plant species at great risk of extinction. If careless applications of pesticides destroy the pollinating bee species, the plant species itself can no longer reproduce.

The information above, if true, most strongly supports which one of the following?
A.The earliest species of flowering plants appeared on Earth contemporaneously with the earliest bee species.
B.If the sole pollinator of a certain plant species is in no danger of extinction, the plant species it pollinates is also unlikely to become extinct.
C.Some bees are able to gather pollen and nectar from any species of plant.
D.The blossoms of most species of flowering plants attract some species of bees and do not attract others.
E.The total destruction of the habitat of some plant species could cause some bee species to become extinct.

[spoiler]OA:E, But I don't agree with it. the argument say that they are so adapted that "they can feed from only a single species of plant" not "only from a single spices of plant".[/spoiler]
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by [email protected] » Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:43 pm
Hi hemant_rajput,

This CR is an example of an inference question; these questions can be some of the hardest questions that you see in the Verbal section.

Inferences can come from individual words, sentences or a combination of ideas, so you have to catch the details to properly answer this question.

Notice how the first sentence states "some flowering plant species....are the only source of food for bees." This sentence is what points to answer E.

IF we're talking about the situation laid out in the first sentence, then if the plant species were to die and that species is the ONLY source of food for bees, then those bees COULD go extinct. The answer doesn't say the bees WOULD go extinct, it says they COULD go extinct. This "softer" language addresses your concerns in the "blacked out" portion of your post.

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by jimenezca » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:37 pm
hemant_rajput wrote:26.Some flowering plant species, entirely dependent on bees for pollination, lure their pollinators with abundant nectar and pollen, which are the only source of food for bees. Often the pollinating species is so highly adapted that it can feed from - and thus pollinate - only a single species of plant. Similarly, some plant species have evolved flowers that only a single species of bee can pollinate - an arrangement that places the plant species at great risk of extinction. If careless applications of pesticides destroy the pollinating bee species, the plant species itself can no longer reproduce.

The information above, if true, most strongly supports which of the following?
A.The earliest species of flowering plants appeared on Earth contemporaneously with the earliest bee species.
B.If the sole pollinator of a certain plant species is in no danger of extinction, the plant species it pollinates is also unlikely to become extinct.
C.Some bees are able to gather pollen and nectar from any species of plant.
D.The blossoms of most species of flowering plants attract some species of bees and do not attract others.
E.The total destruction of the habitat of some plant species could cause some bee species to become extinct.

[spoiler]OA:E, But I don't agree with it. the argument say that they are so adapted that "they can feed from only a single species of plant" not "only from a single spices of plant".[/spoiler]
A.The earliest species of flowering plants appeared on Earth contemporaneously with the earliest bee species. This is clearly outside the scope of the passage.
B.If the sole pollinator of a certain plant species is in no danger of extinction, the plant species it pollinates is also unlikely to become extinct. It is true that the passage does draw a correlation between the life of a plant species and the life of a bee colony. However, just because a specific species of plant survives does not mean that other factors will not effect the bees. Therefore, one cannot claim that the survival of a plant species will preclude the possibility of a bee colony going extinct.
C.Some bees are able to gather pollen and nectar from any species of plant. The statement is not supported by the passage.
D.The blossoms of most species of flowering plants attract some species of bees and do not attract others. The statement is not supported by the passage: it does not claim that most species attract some and do not attract others, but only that some species depend entirely on bee pollination.
E.The total destruction of the habitat of some plant species could cause some bee species to become extinct. CORRECT. If a specific habitat of a specific plant species upon which a particular species of bee exclusively depends, then it clearly will go extinct as well.

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by hemant_rajput » Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:44 am
May be I'm over thinking. Please correct me if I'm wrong -

Some flowering plant species, entirely dependent on bees for pollination, lure their pollinators with abundant nectar and pollen, which are the only source of food for bees.

here it is clear that bees' only source for food is nectar and pollen but not any specific flowering plant. Now the next sentence only says that bees can feed from one single plant but they are not solely dependent on that plant so they can adapt to some other plant in case of extinction of the plant.

If my logic is correct then I think B is definite wrong.

Any comments please ?
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:46 am
hemant_rajput wrote:May be I'm over thinking. Please correct me if I'm wrong -

Some flowering plant species, entirely dependent on bees for pollination, lure their pollinators with abundant nectar and pollen, which are the only source of food for bees.

here it is clear that bees' only source for food is nectar and pollen but not any specific flowering plant. Now the next sentence only says that bees can feed from one single plant but they are not solely dependent on that plant so they can adapt to some other plant in case of extinction of the plant.

If my logic is correct then I think B is definite wrong.

Any comments please ?
The meaning conveyed by the passage is quite the opposite.
Adaptive means capable of changing.
But the bees in the passage are described not as adaptive but as ADAPTED.
Often the pollinating species is so highly ADAPTED that it can feed from - and thus pollinate - only a single species of plant.
Conveyed meaning: many pollinators have SO ADAPTED TO A SINGLE SPECIES OF PLANT that they pollinate ONLY THIS SPECIES OF PLANT.
In other words, these pollinators CANNOT pollinate ANY OTHER species of plant.
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by hemant_rajput » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:48 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
hemant_rajput wrote:May be I'm over thinking. Please correct me if I'm wrong -

Some flowering plant species, entirely dependent on bees for pollination, lure their pollinators with abundant nectar and pollen, which are the only source of food for bees.

here it is clear that bees' only source for food is nectar and pollen but not any specific flowering plant. Now the next sentence only says that bees can feed from one single plant but they are not solely dependent on that plant so they can adapt to some other plant in case of extinction of the plant.

If my logic is correct then I think B is definite wrong.

Any comments please ?
The meaning conveyed by the passage is quite the opposite.
Adaptive means capable of changing.
But the bees in the passage are described not as adaptive but as ADAPTED.
Often the pollinating species is so highly ADAPTED that it can feed from - and thus pollinate - only a single species of plant.
Conveyed meaning: many pollinators have SO ADAPTED TO A SINGLE SPECIES OF PLANT that they pollinate ONLY THIS SPECIES OF PLANT.
In other words, these pollinators CANNOT pollinate ANY OTHER species of plant.

thanks a lot for the clarification.
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by Nick0203 » Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:45 am
(A) is way too broad to support. We don't know anything about the earliest species.
(B) Mistaken negation, swaps the logic around. Paragraph tells that if the sole pollinator DOES become extinct then the plant species is also in trouble. Not the other way around. We aren't told what happens to the plant species if the bee species does NOT go extinct. The plant species could very will still go extinct for another reason, like a mass flood or an astroid.
(C) The stimulus does not support "Any species of plant".
(D) There isn't anything in the stimulus that provides us with adequate information to distinguish characteristics between species of bees. "Most" feels extreme, too. We are repeatedly told "some" in this question, or "often".
(E) Correct. This is supported by the logic that if the one species goes extinct, and the other species is solely reliant on it, the non-extinct species is still in trouble.
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