Live GMAT classes with Target Test Prep start Nov 21 and Nov 22. First class free.

See classes
Target Test Prep · GMAT

Choose how you want to prepare

Learn live with an expert or move at your own pace. Every option includes the complete TTP study system.

Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards 2026 winner: Target Test Prep, #1 Test Prep

Target Test Prep was voted #1 Best Test Prep in the 2026 Newsweek Readers’ Choice™ Awards.

★★★★★5.0563 reviews
GMATLiveTeachStarts Nov 22
Josh Braslow, Target Test Prep GMAT expert
LIVE ONLINE CLASSES

Get Ready for GMAT Test Day Faster with Live Online Classes

with Josh Braslow, 20+ years in test prep

Nov 22 · Josh Braslow
Sun · 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes + 6 months of TTP OnDemand
  • Attend the first class for free
  • Every class is recorded, so you never fall behind
View classes & enroll
Limited seats availableTarget Test Prep
EALiveTeachOnDemandStart anytime
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Target Test Prep EA OnDemand

Self-paced EA prep. Study on your schedule.

EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

with

165+ EA score guarantee
$05-day trial no automatic billing
Schedule
Included
40 hours of live online classes plus six months of access to the complete TTP EA OnDemand course.
  • 165+ EA Score Guarantee
  • 4,100+ Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning practice questions
  • 400+ hours of in-depth video lessons
  • 3,000+ step-by-step video solutions
View EA class & enroll Start free 5-day trial
Limited cohort · enrollment openTrial includes full course accessTarget Test Prep
GMATOnDemandStart anytime
SELF-PACED MASTERCLASS

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Complete access from day one. Study on your schedule.

715+ score guarantee
$0to start then $127/mo
  • Personalized study plan and analytics
  • Thousands of lessons and practice questions

Male bowerbirds construct elaborately decorated nests, or

Expert replies
by BTGmoderatorDC » Sun Aug 26, 2018 1:22 am
Timer
00:00
Your answer
Difficulty–

right wrong

Pick an answer to see how members did

Male bowerbirds construct elaborately decorated nests, or bowers. Basing their judgment on the fact that different local populations of bowerbirds of the same species build bowers that exhibit different building and decorative styles, researchers have concluded that the bowerbirds’ building styles are a culturally acquired, rather than a genetically transmitted, trait.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn by the researchers?

A. There are more common characteristics than there are differences among the bowerbuilding styles of the local bowerbird population that has been studied most extensively.
B. Young male bowerbirds are inept at bowerbuilding and apparently spend years watching their elders before becoming accomplished in the local bower style.
C. The bowers of one species of bowerbird lack the towers and ornamentation characteristic of the bowers of most other species of bowerbird.
D. Bowerbirds are found only in New Guinea and Australia, where local populations of the birds apparently seldom have contact with one another.
E. It is well known that the song dialects of some songbirds are learned rather than transmitted genetically.

OA B

Source: GMAT Prep
Join the discussion
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:39 am
This question is testing CORRELATION v. CAUSATION logic.

Given:
The building styles of bowerbirds of the same species are different in different locations.

Conclusion:
Building styles are culturally acquired, not genetic.

Logical Gap:
- are these birds in different locations genetically similar? Couldn't they have differences in genetic traits specific to certain locations that might account for these differences?

To strengthen:
We need further information to suggest that building information is not inherited but rather learned.

A. There are more common characteristics than there are differences among the bowerbuilding styles of the local bowerbird population that has been studied most extensively.
This doesn't strengthen. We're given that there ARE differences, and we want to strengthen the explanation for why. Knowing that there are also similarities is not helpful.

B. Young male bowerbirds are inept at bowerbuilding and apparently spend years watching their elders before becoming accomplished in the local bower style.
If young ones are inept, that suggests that they don't have the knowledge innately, and that they must learn it. Correct!

C. The bowers of one species of bowerbird lack the towers and ornamentation characteristic of the bowers of most other species of bowerbird.
This merely explains what one of the differences is. We don't care about the particulars of the differences; we just care WHY there are differences.

D. Bowerbirds are found only in New Guinea and Australia, where local populations of the birds apparently seldom have contact with one another.
If different populations don't interact with each other, they might have more distinct genetic traits as well as distinct cultural knowledge. This does not help to explain that differences are caused by nurture and NOT by nature.

E. It is well known that the song dialects of some songbirds are learned rather than transmitted genetically.
This argument is not concerned with songs. It's possible for some traits to be learned and others to be genetic, so this is irrelevant to building styles.

The answer is B.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Join the discussion