Agricultural societies cannot exist without staple crops. Several food plants, such as kola and okra, are known to have been domesticated in western Africa, but they are all supplemental, not staple, foods. All the recorded staple crops grown in western Africa were introduced from elsewhere, beginning, at some unknown date, with rice and yams. Therefore, discovering when rice and yams were introduced into western Africa would establish the earliest date at which agricultural societies could have arisen there.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) People in western Africa did not develop staple crops that they stopped cultivating once rice and yams were introduced.
(B) There are no plants native to western Africa that, if domesticated, could serve as staple food crops.
(C) Rice and yams were grown as staple crops by the earliest agricultural societies outside of western Africa.
(D) Kola and okra are better suited to growing conditions in western Africa than domesticated rice and yams are.
(E) Kola and okra were domesticated in western Africa before rice and yams were introduced there
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Agricultural Societies staple foods
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LulaBrazilia
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Double Post deleted.
Last edited by Abhishek009 on Sun Feb 23, 2014 6:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Abhishek009
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West Africa - Staple crops grown today were introduced at some unknown period of time in the past.LulaBrazilia wrote:Agricultural societies cannot exist without staple crops. Several food plants, such as kola and okra, are known to have been domesticated in western Africa, but they are all supplemental, not staple, foods. All the recorded staple crops grown in western Africa were introduced from elsewhere, beginning, at some unknown date, with rice and yams. Therefore, discovering when rice and yams were introduced into western Africa would establish the earliest date at which agricultural societies could have arisen there.
Discovery when the staple crops grown in West Africa would help in establishing the time when agricultural society arose.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) People in western Africa did not develop staple crops that they stopped cultivating once rice and yams were introduced.
Might be true.
Staple Crops ---->Rice----->Agricultural Society.
For an Agricultural Society to establish the fact that there was some staple crop. Further we have to assume that rice was the first staple crop cultivated in the area.
(B) There are no plants native to western Africa that, if domesticated, could serve as staple food crops.
Out of Scope.
(C) Rice and yams were grown as staple crops by the earliest agricultural societies outside of western Africa.
Completely out of scope.
(D) Kola and okra are better suited to growing conditions in western Africa than domesticated rice and yams are.
Out of scope.
(E) Kola and okra were domesticated in western Africa before rice and yams were introduced there
We have no information about the order of Cultivation , hence out of scope.
Hence IMO(A)..
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Hi LulaBrazilia,
This CR prompt asks us to figure out an assumption behind the logic, so we'll need to be clear on how the facts connect to the conclusion.
The Facts:
-Agricultural societies CANNOT exist without STAPLE CROPS.
-Food plants, such as kola and okra, were domesticated in western Africa, but they are NOT staple foods.
-All RECORDED staple crops in western Africa were introduced from elsewhere (BEGINNING with rice and yams).
The Conclusion:
Knowing when rice and yams were introduced will tell us the earliest date at which agricultural societies could have risen in western Africa.
The Logic:
The prompt links two ideas are one approximate date: whenever rice/yams were introduced is when agricultural societies rose in west Africa. This is essentially a cause-and-effect relationship. To assume that this logic is valid (that the rice/yams is HOW you can date the EARLIEST society), you have to assume that there's no other way to date the society. Since the prompt is so focused on staple crops, the correct answer will probably mention that subject.
The correct answer A confirms that there wasn't another way to date the society.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
This CR prompt asks us to figure out an assumption behind the logic, so we'll need to be clear on how the facts connect to the conclusion.
The Facts:
-Agricultural societies CANNOT exist without STAPLE CROPS.
-Food plants, such as kola and okra, were domesticated in western Africa, but they are NOT staple foods.
-All RECORDED staple crops in western Africa were introduced from elsewhere (BEGINNING with rice and yams).
The Conclusion:
Knowing when rice and yams were introduced will tell us the earliest date at which agricultural societies could have risen in western Africa.
The Logic:
The prompt links two ideas are one approximate date: whenever rice/yams were introduced is when agricultural societies rose in west Africa. This is essentially a cause-and-effect relationship. To assume that this logic is valid (that the rice/yams is HOW you can date the EARLIEST society), you have to assume that there's no other way to date the society. Since the prompt is so focused on staple crops, the correct answer will probably mention that subject.
The correct answer A confirms that there wasn't another way to date the society.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
