Research botanists Sarah Patel, James Wilson, and their team investigated how mountain plant species adapt to environmental challenges. The scientists...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Research botanists Sarah Patel, James Wilson, and their team investigated how mountain plant species adapt to environmental challenges. The scientists evaluated survival outcomes for twenty-four plant samples under three distinct environmental scenarios: natural seasonal climate exposure, regulated laboratory environment exposure, and artificially generated random temperature and humidity variations that bore no resemblance to authentic climate patterns. Every plant variety originated from either elevated mountain regions or lower elevation areas, with no species naturally occurring at both altitudinal zones. The research team determined that variations in plants' structural features might influence their capacity to differentiate between beneficial and detrimental environmental circumstances.
Which finding from the study, if true, would most directly support the team's conclusion?
High-elevation species adapted to seasonal climate patterns demonstrated superior survival outcomes compared to high-elevation species adapted to regulated environments when both groups were subjected to regulated laboratory conditions.
High-elevation species exhibited a distinct survival response pattern under random environmental fluctuations compared to the response pattern low-elevation species displayed when subjected to their indigenous seasonal climate conditions.
High-elevation species demonstrated more pronounced variability in survival outcomes under seasonal climate exposure versus regulated laboratory conditions when compared to low-elevation species.
High-elevation species exhibited more substantial disparities in survival outcomes under either seasonal climate or regulated laboratory conditions compared to random environmental fluctuations, relative to the differences shown by low-elevation species.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Research botanists Sarah Patel, James Wilson, and their team investigated how mountain plant species adapt to environmental challenges.' |
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| 'The scientists evaluated survival outcomes for twenty-four plant samples under three distinct environmental scenarios: natural seasonal climate exposure, regulated laboratory environment exposure, and artificially generated random temperature and humidity variations that bore no resemblance to authentic climate patterns.' |
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| 'Every plant variety originated from either elevated mountain regions or lower elevation areas, with no species naturally occurring at both altitudinal zones.' |
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| 'The research team determined that variations in plants' structural features might influence their capacity to differentiate between beneficial and detrimental environmental circumstances.' |
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Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Research suggests that differences in plant structure might help mountain plants distinguish between helpful and harmful environmental conditions.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes a research study on plant adaptation, describes the experimental setup with three different environmental conditions, clarifies the sample characteristics, and concludes with the team's hypothesis about how structural differences enable plants to differentiate between beneficial and detrimental environments.
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
- The team's conclusion is that structural differences might help plants tell good conditions from bad ones
- So we need evidence showing that plants with certain structural features respond differently to beneficial vs detrimental conditions
- The right answer should show plants demonstrating different survival patterns that suggest they can distinguish between beneficial and detrimental environmental circumstances, and that this ability varies based on their structural features
High-elevation species adapted to seasonal climate patterns demonstrated superior survival outcomes compared to high-elevation species adapted to regulated environments when both groups were subjected to regulated laboratory conditions.
- Compares high-elevation species adapted to different conditions when both are tested in the same regulated environment
- Doesn't show plants differentiating between beneficial and detrimental conditions
High-elevation species exhibited a distinct survival response pattern under random environmental fluctuations compared to the response pattern low-elevation species displayed when subjected to their indigenous seasonal climate conditions.
- Compares different species under completely different conditions
- Doesn't demonstrate one type of plant differentiating between beneficial and detrimental environments
High-elevation species demonstrated more pronounced variability in survival outcomes under seasonal climate exposure versus regulated laboratory conditions when compared to low-elevation species.
- Shows high-elevation species having more survival variability than low-elevation species
- Doesn't clearly demonstrate differentiation between beneficial vs detrimental conditions
High-elevation species exhibited more substantial disparities in survival outcomes under either seasonal climate or regulated laboratory conditions compared to random environmental fluctuations, relative to the differences shown by low-elevation species.
- High-elevation species showed bigger differences in survival between normal conditions (seasonal/regulated) compared to random conditions, more so than low-elevation species
- This suggests high-elevation species can better differentiate between potentially beneficial conditions and clearly detrimental ones
- The comparison to low-elevation species shows this differentiation ability varies by plant type, supporting the structural features claim