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RC - Organization of the passage - komatiites

Expert replies
by gmatrant » Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:29 pm
First identified in 1969, komatiites are Earth's oldestknown volcanic rocks and contain three times as muchmagnesium as do most volcanic rocks. This chemicalcomposition suggests that komatiites formed from thehottest lava known ever to have erupted: a highconcentration of magnesium changes the physicalproperties of lava so that unusually high temperatureswould be required for the lava to exist as a liquid.

Komatiites' discovery was surprising in light of then-current geological theories about magmas, moltenrock that forms in the Earth's mantle (the layerbeneath the crust) and composes volcanic lavaeruptions. Prior to 1960, geologists Bowen and Hessdisagreed over whether or not the very hightemperatures needed to produce magmas rich inmagnesium could have existed on Earth. Hesssuggested that the presence of water, probablyreleased from minerals decomposing in the Earth'smantle, might have meant that a high-magnesiummagma could have existed at a lower temperature. ButBowen showed experimentally that the hightemperatures were indeed necessary. By 1960, it wasgenerally accepted that volcanic rocks with such highlevels of magnesium could not exist, and thus thediscovery of komatiites changed geologists' assumptions about the characteristics of the Earth'smantle around the time of the formation of komatiites,between 2.5 and 4 billion years ago.

Which of the following most accurately describes theorganization of the passage?
A. Two divergent views of a scientific phenomenon arereconciled.
B. A phenomenon is described and its scientificsignificance is discussed.
C. The discovery of a scientific phenomenon is tracedand its implications for further research are suggested.
D. A long-standing scientific theory is examined andrecently discovered evidence is shown to support it.
E. The ways in which a particular geologicalphenomenon is exceptional are detailed and classified

[spoiler]OA is B. Can you please tell me why D is not correct?[/spoiler]
A kudos or thanks would do great if my answer has helped you :)
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Source: — Reading Comprehension |

by tanviet » Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:06 pm
I get b but take a long time.

I like this passage which is short and hard and so similar to gmat passage. Where to find the passages like this one. pls help
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by Bpetteway » Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:49 pm
If this is a hard gmat passage then I need more like this to practice
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by tanviet » Wed Feb 06, 2013 7:38 pm
the first paragraph is about phenomenon, the second its scientific importance. B is right clearly

this structure dose not suite D

this passage is not hard at all. this is medium hard.
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by Tommy Wallach » Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:46 pm
Hey Guys,

Great discussion here. I'll chime in and take it apart a bit:

Main Idea: Komatiites' discovery
Paragraph 1: Description of Kamtiites
Paragraph 2: Description/ramifications of discovery

(A) There are not two divergent views of a phenomenon. The only major phenomenon here is komatiites, and there is only one view of it.
(B) Look at my two paragraphs! How perfect! I promise on a stack of Bibles that I wrote that before I looked down here, as you should!
(C) The passage never discusses the implications for further research.
(D) Close. We do examine a long-standing scientific theory (that komaiites could not exist), but the evidence given actually undermines that theory.
(E) This is very tempting. Komatiites are indeed exceptional (there are no other volcanic rocks with as much magnesium). But the entire passage isn't devoted to describing the ways in which it's exceptional. In fact, the whole second paragraph is more about the path to discovery and what it meant for research. Also, nowhere are the exceptional aspects of komatiites "classified."

Hope that helps!

-t
Tommy Wallach, Company Expert
ManhattanGMAT

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