Numerous songbird species across North America display mobbing behavior, actively pursuing and harassing predators such as hawks and owls. This...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Numerous songbird species across North America display mobbing behavior, actively pursuing and harassing predators such as hawks and owls. This defensive strategy demands considerable energy expenditure and poses risks to smaller birds. Ornithologist Dr. Sarah Chen documented that in regions where predator populations are dense, merely \(30\%\) of songbird species consistently participate in mobbing activities. A different researcher contends that mobbing delivers essential survival benefits by eliminating threats that would otherwise result in significant bird mortality. Dr. Chen challenges this hypothesis, observing that if mobbing behavior genuinely provided such critical survival advantages, then it would be most probable that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
a greater number of songbird species would display mobbing behavior.
songbirds would evade regions with dense predator populations.
predators would evolve more effective hunting techniques.
songbirds would grow larger to enhance their defensive capabilities.
Looking at this inference question, I'll work through it systematically to help you understand the logical reasoning process.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Numerous songbird species across North America display mobbing behavior, actively pursuing and harassing predators such as hawks and owls.' |
|
| 'This defensive strategy demands considerable energy expenditure and poses risks to smaller birds.' |
|
| 'Ornithologist Dr. Sarah Chen documented that in regions where predator populations are dense, merely 30% of songbird species consistently participate in mobbing activities.' |
|
| 'A different researcher contends that mobbing delivers essential survival benefits by eliminating threats that would otherwise result in significant bird mortality.' |
|
| 'Dr. Chen challenges this hypothesis, observing that if mobbing behavior genuinely provided such critical survival advantages, then it would be most probable that ______' |
|
Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Dr. Chen questions whether mobbing behavior truly provides critical survival benefits, given the limited participation rates she observed.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes mobbing as a costly defensive behavior, presents data showing only 30% of species consistently engage in it even where predators are dense, introduces a competing claim that mobbing provides essential survival benefits, then sets up Dr. Chen's logical challenge to test this claim.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Dr. Chen's logic follows this pattern: 'If mobbing behavior genuinely provided such critical survival advantages, then we would expect to see...'
- The key insight is that if something provides critical survival advantages, natural selection would favor it strongly
- We observed that only 30% of species consistently mob even in dense predator areas
- If mobbing truly provided critical survival benefits, we would expect more widespread adoption of the behavior across species
a greater number of songbird species would display mobbing behavior.
- ✓ Correct
- Directly addresses the logical expectation from Dr. Chen's challenge
- If mobbing provided critical survival advantages, natural selection would favor it and more species would adopt it
songbirds would evade regions with dense predator populations.
- ✗ Incorrect
- Suggests birds would avoid predator-dense regions entirely, which contradicts the premise that birds are already living in these areas
predators would evolve more effective hunting techniques.
- ✗ Incorrect
- Focuses on predator evolution rather than songbird behavior and doesn't test whether mobbing provides survival benefits to birds
songbirds would grow larger to enhance their defensive capabilities.
- ✗ Incorrect
- Suggests physical adaptation rather than behavioral adoption and doesn't logically follow from the premise about mobbing behavior