Hardiness Zones - Must Be True Question

Expert replies

nikhilgmat31: Legendary Member; Posts: 518; Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 8:25 pm; Thanked: 10 times

by nikhilgmat31 » Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:57 pm

The U.S. Department of Agriculture divides the North American continent into
"hardiness zones." These zones are based on the average winter temperature
and are used to determine what types of plants will likely survive in a given
area. Zone 1 represents the coldest average winter temperature and zone 13
the warmest. The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match
another set of eleven zones that indicate the length of the growing season.
Minneapolis is in hardiness zone 4 and Denver is in hardiness zone 6.

Which of the following statements is most supported by the information
above?

(A) During the coming winter, the lowest recorded temperature in
Minneapolis will be lower than the lowest recorded temperature in
Denver.
(B) The growing season in Denver is much longer than the growing season
in Minneapolis.
(C) A greater variety of plants can be grown in Denver, due to the warmer
average winter low.
(D) Factors other than average winter temperature affect the length of the
growing season.
(E) At least one U.S. city has a colder average winter temperature than
does Minneapolis.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:57 pm

bubbliiiiiiii: Legendary Member; Posts: 979; Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:38 amFollowed by: 12 members; Location: Hyderabad, India; Thanked: 49 times; GMAT Score:700

by bubbliiiiiiii » Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:19 am

Hardiness Zones - Zones based on average winter temperature and the type of plants that survive temperatures.

Zone 1 - coldest and Zone 13 - warmest.

Zones ( I suppose hardiness zones) are closely corelated with another set of zones based on length of growing season.

Minneapolis - Zone 4
Denver - Zone 6

Lets jump to options.

(A) During the coming winter, the lowest recorded temperature in
Minneapolis will be lower than the lowest recorded temperature in
Denver.

This question is based on mathematical concept of avgs. Avg of Minneapolis be 1.5 (1 and 2) and Denver be 5.25 (0.5 and 10). Thus, its possible that Minneapolis despite between lower numbered zone has min temp greater than a greater numbered zone. ELIMINATE.

(B) The growing season in Denver is much longer than the growing season
in Minneapolis.

We are not sure of what kind of co-relation the two zones share. So, ELIMINATE.

(C) A greater variety of plants can be grown in Denver, due to the warmer
average winter low.

While zones are made based on the type of plant that survives in such cold temperatures, no mention of the type or variety of plants is given. Thus, ELIMINATE.

(D) Factors other than average winter temperature affect the length of the
growing season.

We aren't sure to comment since no sufficient information is given in passage.

(E) At least one U.S. city has a colder average winter temperature than
does Minneapolis.

Since Minneapolis is zone 3 there should be two other colder zones. Thus, possible. CORRECT.

IMO E

Regards,

Pranay

nikhilgmat31: Legendary Member; Posts: 518; Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 8:25 pm; Thanked: 10 times

by nikhilgmat31 » Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:46 am

Hi bubbliii,

I also think of E.

Bot OA is D.
based on below statement
The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match another set of eleven zones that indicate the length of the growing season.

source - Veritas GMAT Foundation

ddg: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 43; Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:12 am; Thanked: 1 times

by ddg » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:11 am

nikhilgmat31 wrote:The U.S. Department of Agriculture divides the North American continent into
"hardiness zones." These zones are based on the average winter temperature
and are used to determine what types of plants will likely survive in a given
area. Zone 1 represents the coldest average winter temperature and zone 13
the warmest. The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match
another set of eleven zones that indicate the length of the growing season.
Minneapolis is in hardiness zone 4 and Denver is in hardiness zone 6.

Which of the following statements is most supported by the information
above?

(A) During the coming winter, the lowest recorded temperature in
Minneapolis will be lower than the lowest recorded temperature in
Denver.
(B) The growing season in Denver is much longer than the growing season
in Minneapolis.
(C) A greater variety of plants can be grown in Denver, due to the warmer
average winter low.
(D) Factors other than average winter temperature affect the length of the
growing season.
(E) At least one U.S. city has a colder average winter temperature than
does Minneapolis.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi

OA is D

Please refer to the image attached, I hope it clears out your doubts

Consider both D) and E)

E) We can't be sure there is at least one city which lies in a zone lower than Minneapolis. All cities in the lower region may belong to zone 4 itself. So E can be eliminated.

D) on the other hand is a must be true statement - because the zones aren't completely correlated as in Zone (temp) = Zone (growing season) is not true. So this IS true.

I've explained it more deeply in the image attached. Please do check it out

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KarenVH: MBA Admissions Consultant; Posts: 11; Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:52 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by KarenVH » Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:57 pm

The fact that Minneapolis is in Zone 4 doesn't necessarily mean that there are cities with a colder average temperature, because we haven't been told that Zones 1, 2 or 3 actually have any cities in them. They might be just rural areas with small towns, or pure wilderness. But the fact that the zones indicating length of growing season don't perfectly correlate with the zones for average winter temperature means that there must be something other than average temperature that determines the length of the growing season. Therefore, it's D.

Karen v.H.

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nikhilgmat31: Legendary Member; Posts: 518; Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 8:25 pm; Thanked: 10 times

by nikhilgmat31 » Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:15 am

yes Karen but E seems very tempting answer at first instance.

It is difficult to digest the fact that "Factors other than average winter temperature"

I think second to the last line in argument suggest that other factors are responsible.

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