Antarctic seals

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Antarctic seals dive to great depths and stay submerged for hours. They do not rely solely on oxygen held in their lungs, but also store extra oxygen in their blood. Indeed, some researchers hypothesize that for long dives these seals also store oxygenated blood in their spleens.

Each of the following, if true, provides some support for the researchers' hypothesis EXCEPT:

A) Horses are known to store oxygenated blood in their spleens for use during exertion.

B) Many species of seal can store oxygen directly in their muscle tissue.

C) The oxygen contained in the seals' lungs and bloodstream alone would be inadequate to support the seals during their dives.

D) The spleen is much larger in the Antarctic seal than in aquatic mammals that do not make long dives.

E) The spleens of Antarctic seals contain greater concentrations of blood vessels than are contained in most of their other organs.

OA[spoiler] B. I don't have a problem with B being the answer. My question is why isn't A out of scope? How is A relevant at all?[/spoiler]

[Brian@VeritasPrep]

Hey Osirus,

Interesting question - I agree with you that A isn't terribly supportive of the conclusion, although I suppose you can justify it by saying that, if elsewhere in the animal kingdom there is another instance of spleen-stored blood, then it's more likely that seals have the same capacity (they're both mammals, right?). So there's "some support", which is what the question asks for.

With B, it provides an alternative by which it may even be less likely that seals would need spleen-stored blood, as they have plenty of other options for getting oxygen. B almost weakens the hypothesis, so it's fairly clear. Since A gives a fairly slight amount of support, I think you can defend it, although I'd also say that it probably falls outside the scope of what GMAC's staff would ultimately consider an incorrect choice.

I hope that helps...

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. That is from a very nasty LSAT Logical Reasoning section. That entire section was just ridiculous. Thanks for the reply.

[Brian@VeritasPrep]

No problem - and, actually, that's good to know where it came from. One of our worldwide greats - David, who also posts on here - took the GMAT not too long ago and noted that he found the Critical Reasoning questions to be easier than he had anticipated, even though he scored a perfect verbal score. He also teaches LSAT, so his orientation may have been geared toward more complex questions, but I think it's still a valid thing to note: practice with the toughest CR questions you can find as you improve, but keep in mind that the trickiest ones may end up being a little too difficult that you'd ever see them on the official GMAT, so don't let them stress you out too much!

[narenkr]

Hi Brian/Osirus,
So is the ans for this B?
I have this doubt as A talks about other animals, but has a correlation to the topic discussed here..

Regards,
Narendra.

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Hi Brian/Osirus,
So is the ans for this B?
I have this doubt as A talks about other animals, but has a correlation to the topic discussed here..

Regards,
Narendra.

yeah, OA is B

[sachindia]

Hey Osirus,

Interesting question - I agree with you that A isn't terribly supportive of the conclusion, although I suppose you can justify it by saying that, if elsewhere in the animal kingdom there is another instance of spleen-stored blood, then it's more likely that seals have the same capacity (they're both mammals, right?). So there's "some support", which is what the question asks for.

With B, it provides an alternative by which it may even be less likely that seals would need spleen-stored blood, as they have plenty of other options for getting oxygen. B almost weakens the hypothesis, so it's fairly clear. Since A gives a fairly slight amount of support, I think you can defend it, although I'd also say that it probably falls outside the scope of what GMAC's staff would ultimately consider an incorrect choice.

I hope that helps...

Hi brian and experts,
If A strengthens, I would say B also strengthens .. it shows that if oxygen is possible to be stored in muscle tissue, it is also possible to store O2 in spleen. similar reasoninng you have provided for A..
Please help ..

[mohan514]

i would reject option a for two reasons
firstly it is digressing speaking abut horse which need not apply to the seal or even may apply
second is it is based on the assumption that horses need extra oxygen for exertion

why analyse it to that extent when a clear option just beneath it is staring at you???

[sachindia]

hi Mohan,
Rejecting A means it is supporting the argument. My Q is if A supports, B also supports.(reasoning provided in my earlier post). So why say B doesnt support..