IMO - C

rgd, E - how can I one assume that they grow at a constant rate & an old tree can't be shorter than a young tree.

I also had the same concern, E option doesn't seems to be right.

IMO C...

I wonder wat E has to with it??

danaJ & maihuna & Vikram_51..any commenst on that?

C is irrelevant as we cannot make any inference about the competition from the passage
E is incorrect as any differences are too extreme for the GMAT, too strong. Other species of trees are out of scope, so discard D. It is not stated or implied in the argument that the land had been cleared of all trees. Eliminate B.

The only possible answer is A as it is a logical paraphrase of the argument.

@ ranell

From the passage its clear that, little light reaches the forest floor. So for the tree to sustain ,it has to compete for sunlight.So Competition prevails.

IMO C says that competition among the trees in the stand for sunlight will soon result in some trees' dying and the stand thus becoming thinner. So I vote for C

Mature white pines intercept almost all the sunlight that shines on them. They leave a deep litter that dries readily and they grow to prodigious height so that, even when there are large gaps in a stand of such trees, little light reaches the forest floor. For this reason white pines cannot regenerate in their own shade. Thus, when in a dense forest a stand of trees consists of nothing but mature white pines, it is a fair bet that:
Which one of the following most logically concludes the argument?

A) the ages of the trees in the stand do not differ from each other by much more than the length of time it takes a white pine to grow to maturity

B) the land on which the stand is now growing had been cleared of all trees at the time when the first of the white pines started growing

C) competition among the trees in the stand for sunlight will soon result in some trees' dying and the stand thus becoming thinner

D) other species of trees will soon begin to colonize the stand, eventually replacing all of the white pines

E) any differences in the heights of the trees in the stand are attributable solely to differences in the ages of the trees


A and E are quite close here.The stem mentions that the the trees can't grow in their own shade.It essentially means that in a line of white pines almost all have the same age and height.And the only difference in height is due to the age.
I think A is closer.

What's the source?

artistocrat wrote:What's the source?

Probably LSAT

I would go wth A

zeppelin wrote:Mature white pines intercept almost all the sunlight that shines on them. They leave a deep litter that dries readily and they grow to prodigious height so that, even when there are large gaps in a stand of such trees, little light reaches the forest floor. For this reason white pines cannot regenerate in their own shade. Thus, when in a dense forest a stand of trees consists of nothing but mature white pines, it is a fair bet that:
Which one of the following most logically concludes the argument?

A) the ages of the trees in the stand do not differ from each other by much more than the length of time it takes a white pine to grow to maturity
A tree can grow beside a pine tree only until the 1st one matures, as once it matures, it would nt let other gress grow near it. so for suppose if it takes 3 yrs to mature,a new tree can grw by its side nly in those 3 yrs. in the 4th year any new tree planted wud wither out as the first one has matured.
B) the land on which the stand is now growing had been cleared of all trees at the time when the first of the white pines started growing
no way is it related to the argument abt pine tress nd their growth
C) competition among the trees in the stand for sunlight will soon result in some trees' dying and the stand thus becoming thinner
the stand already contains mature pine trees, the above can be true if the stand contains mature trees and those still growing. iftht was the case the new ones wud nt get enugh light and thus wither out.
D) other species of trees will soon begin to colonize the stand, eventually replacing all of the white pines
out of scope
E) any differences in the heights of the trees in the stand are attributable solely to differences in the ages of the trees
it cannot solely be aattributed to the diff in ages
Please help!!

[spoiler]
OA:E[/spoiler]

https://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-critica ... pines.html

According to Urch forums it is not E that is the official answer, but rather A. Please when you post questions KNOW what the official answer is. It confuses the rest of us when you publish such inaccuracies.