Critical Reasoning

The US Department of Agriculture divides the North American continent into "hardiness zones." These zones are based on the average lowest 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 low temperature and zone 11 the warmest. The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match another set of zones that indicate the length of the growing season. Minneapolis is in hardiness zone 4 and Denver is in hardiness zone 5.

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 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) It is likely that at least some plants that are recommended to be grown in Denver would not be recommended for Minneapolis.

E) Minneapolis actually has a more favorable climate for growing most vegetables than does Denver.

my pick is D
A) During the coming winter, the lowest recorded temperature in Minneapolis will be lower than the lowest recorded temperature in Denver. - We can determine only that the average low temperature in zone 4 < zone 5 . But not that the lowest temperature in zone 4 < zone 5
B) The growing season in Denver is longer than the growing season in Minneapolis.
doesn't provide a comparison of the length of growing seasons for the various zones
C) A greater variety of plants can be grown in Denver, due to the warmer average winter low.
Out of scope. No proof provided
D) It is likely that at least some plants that are recommended to be grown in Denver would not be recommended for Minneapolis.
E) Minneapolis actually has a more favorable climate for growing most vegetables than does Denver
Out of scope. No proof provided

David@VeritasPrep wrote:The US Department of Agriculture divides the North American continent into "hardiness zones." These zones are based on the average lowest 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 low temperature and zone 11 the warmest. The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match another set of zones that indicate the length of the growing season. Minneapolis is in hardiness zone 4 and Denver is in hardiness zone 5.

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 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) It is likely that at least some plants that are recommended to be grown in Denver would not be recommended for Minneapolis.

E) Minneapolis actually has a more favorable climate for growing most vegetables than does Denver.

David@VeritasPrep wrote:The US Department of Agriculture divides the North American continent into "hardiness zones." These zones are based on the average lowest 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 low temperature and zone 11 the warmest. The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match another set of zones that indicate the length of the growing season. Minneapolis is in hardiness zone 4 and Denver is in hardiness zone 5.


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. (reference is the Average temp not the lowest)

B) The growing season in Denver is 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.
(No reference w.r.t no verities of plants)

D) It is likely that at least some plants that are recommended to be grown in Denver would not be recommended for Minneapolis. (out of scope)

E) Minneapolis actually has a more favorable climate for growing most vegetables than does Denver.

(no reference for the no of vegetables w.r.t cold climate or hot climate)

David@VeritasPrep wrote:The US Department of Agriculture divides the North American continent into "hardiness zones." These zones are based on the average lowest 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 low temperature and zone 11 the warmest. The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match another set of zones that indicate the length of the growing season. Minneapolis is in hardiness zone 4 and Denver is in hardiness zone 5.

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 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) It is likely that at least some plants that are recommended to be grown in Denver would not be recommended for Minneapolis.

E) Minneapolis actually has a more favorable climate for growing most vegetables than does Denver.

IMO D as it restates the fact that zones determine which types of plants will be grown in which area. Since, M and D are in different zones, there is a likelihood that the at least few plants recommended will be different

Nice work guys!

OA is D.

Choice A can be eliminated because it is a prediction, and predictions can almost always be false because they are about the future. It is possible that Denver will have a lower temperature this year than the lowest temperature in Minneapolis.

Choice B can be false because the hardiness zones do not exactly match the length of growing season, so it is possible that even though Minneapolis has a colder average lowest temperature it may still have a longer growing season than Denver.

Choice C also can be false because the stimulus does not say anything about the variety of plants that can be grown in each region, and other factors such as yearly rainfall would also influence the varieties of plants that can be grown in any given location.

Choice E can be false for the same reason as C: we do not know exactly which plants can be grown in each locale.

Choice D is the correct answer because it is different from the other choices. The stimulus says that the hardiness zones help to indicate the types of plants that can survive the winters in a given area based on the lowest temperatures.
Therefore, as choice D indicates, at least some plants that can survive a Denver winter in zone 5 would likely not survive a Minneapolis winter in zone 4. Choice D also benefits from favorable wording. Words like "likely" and "some" make this answer choice easier to prove than in if the wording were more definite.

David ... the CR's that you have posted are great.. can you post some more ...specifically in the Assumption and Argument Structure subject area?

David@VeritasPrep wrote:Nice work guys!

OA is D.

Choice A can be eliminated because it is a prediction, and predictions can almost always be false because they are about the future. It is possible that Denver will have a lower temperature this year than the lowest temperature in Minneapolis.

Choice B can be false because the hardiness zones do not exactly match the length of growing season, so it is possible that even though Minneapolis has a colder average lowest temperature it may still have a longer growing season than Denver.

Choice C also can be false because the stimulus does not say anything about the variety of plants that can be grown in each region, and other factors such as yearly rainfall would also influence the varieties of plants that can be grown in any given location.

Choice E can be false for the same reason as C: we do not know exactly which plants can be grown in each locale.

Choice D is the correct answer because it is different from the other choices. The stimulus says that the hardiness zones help to indicate the types of plants that can survive the winters in a given area based on the lowest temperatures.
Therefore, as choice D indicates, at least some plants that can survive a Denver winter in zone 5 would likely not survive a Minneapolis winter in zone 4. Choice D also benefits from favorable wording. Words like "likely" and "some" make this answer choice easier to prove than in if the wording were more definite.

Thanks Deb -

I will see what I have in those categories!

David

David@VeritasPrep wrote:Thanks Deb -

I will see what I have in those categories!

David

David, the argument you posted is always tough... hehehe it always takes me almost 2 mins to understand and choose the answer

David,

Can you please explain why B is wrong?

B is not correct because the stimulus tells us, "The zones are closely correlated with, but do not exactly match another set of zones that indicate the length of the growing season. "

So while it is likely that Denver has the longer growing season - the specific characteristic "hardiness zone" does not actually tell us this - so it could be false. Denver may have the shorter season yet be in a warmer hardiness zone.

Does that help?

I was getting confused between growing season and winter season.

So what I am understanding is that stimulus says that 'zones are closely correlated with another set of zones and that do not exactly match with the length of the growing season'.

This clearly means that we do not know which growing season is longer. Therefore, B is not correct.

Am I following you?

Exactly! Growing season might be longer, but not must be true!

Definitely D

David@VeritasPrep wrote:Nice work guys!

OA is D.

Choice A can be eliminated because it is a prediction, and predictions can almost always be false because they are about the future. It is possible that Denver will have a lower temperature this year than the lowest temperature in Minneapolis.

Choice D is the correct answer because it is different from the other choices. The stimulus says that the hardiness zones help to indicate the types of plants that can survive the winters in a given area based on the lowest temperatures.
Therefore, as choice D indicates, at least some plants that can survive a Denver winter in zone 5 would likely not survive a Minneapolis winter in zone 4. Choice D also benefits from favorable wording. Words like "likely" and "some" make this answer choice easier to prove than in if the wording were more definite.

I chose d ,one of the reasons being its moderate tone.But as u have said the temperatures of Dever and Minneapolis could be swapped, the crops that were meant to be grown in Denver would survive in Minneapolis as well in case the temperatures are reversed.

On a second Thought , my doubts have been eliminated because of the presence of the word "recommended"
Thanks david,Any other reason why my doubts were unfounded