Roasted green chiles are a popular ingredient in Southwestern cuisine, but the traditional roasting method of burning propane is not...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Roasted green chiles are a popular ingredient in Southwestern cuisine, but the traditional roasting method of burning propane is not environmentally friendly. To see if solar power could provide a better alternative, engineer Kenneth Armijo and his team roasted batches of green chiles using between 38 and 42 heliostats, which are devices that concentrate sunlight. The team was successful in reaching the same roasting temperature used in traditional propane roasting, but they found that propane yielded faster results. While the fastest solar-roasted green chiles took six minutes, batches using propane took only four. Armijo hypothesizes that they can reduce the roasting time for solar-roasted green chiles by using more heliostats.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support Armijo's hypothesis?
The temperature inside the roasting drum is distributed more evenly when roasting green chiles with solar power than with propane.
Attempts to roast green chiles using 50 heliostats yields results in fewer than six minutes.
Green chile connoisseurs prefer the flavor of solar-roasted green chiles over the flavor of propane-roasted green chiles.
The skins of solar-roasted green chiles are easier to peel than the skins of propane-roasted green chiles.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Roasted green chiles are a popular ingredient in Southwestern cuisine, but the traditional roasting method of burning propane is not environmentally friendly." |
|
| "To see if solar power could provide a better alternative, engineer Kenneth Armijo and his team roasted batches of green chiles using between 38 and 42 heliostats, which are devices that concentrate sunlight." |
|
| "The team was successful in reaching the same roasting temperature used in traditional propane roasting, but they found that propane yielded faster results." |
|
| "While the fastest solar-roasted green chiles took six minutes, batches using propane took only four." |
|
| "Armijo hypothesizes that they can reduce the roasting time for solar-roasted green chiles by using more heliostats." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Armijo's team successfully matched propane roasting temperatures using solar power, but solar took longer, leading to his hypothesis that more heliostats could reduce solar roasting time.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? Which finding would most directly support Armijo's hypothesis?
What type of answer do we need? Evidence that would strengthen his claim that more heliostats reduce solar roasting time
Any limiting keywords? most directly support
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Armijo's hypothesis is that using more heliostats will reduce the roasting time for solar-roasted green chiles
- To support this, we'd need evidence showing an experiment using more heliostats than the original 38-42 and results showing faster roasting times than the original 6-minute minimum
The temperature inside the roasting drum is distributed more evenly when roasting green chiles with solar power than with propane.
✗ Incorrect
- This talks about temperature distribution being more even with solar power
- Armijo's hypothesis is specifically about reducing roasting TIME, not improving temperature distribution
Attempts to roast green chiles using 50 heliostats yields results in fewer than six minutes.
✓ Correct
- This directly tests Armijo's hypothesis by using more heliostats (50 vs the original 38-42) and shows the result is faster than 6 minutes, which was the minimum time in the original experiment
Green chile connoisseurs prefer the flavor of solar-roasted green chiles over the flavor of propane-roasted green chiles.
✗ Incorrect
- This is about flavor preference, which is completely unrelated to roasting time
- Armijo's hypothesis deals with efficiency/speed, not taste quality
The skins of solar-roasted green chiles are easier to peel than the skins of propane-roasted green chiles.
✗ Incorrect
- This discusses ease of peeling, which is about post-roasting processing
- This doesn't address the core issue of reducing roasting time