Whale speciesTypical adult body length (meters)Average time to filter all engulfed water (seconds)Average number of lunges per dive deeper than...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
| Whale species | Typical adult body length (meters) | Average time to filter all engulfed water (seconds) | Average number of lunges per dive deeper than 50 meters |
|---|---|---|---|
| fin | 18–22 | 31.30 | 3.95 |
| humpback | 11–17 | 17.12 | 6.28 |
| minke | 7–10 | 8.88 | 7.48 |
| blue | 24–34 | 60.27 | 4.02 |
Some whale species practice lunge feeding, in which they lunge toward prey with their mouths open at wide angles, collect the prey and the surrounding water, and then filter out the water through baleen plates in their mouths. Although the volume of water engulfed increases with whales' body length, the surface area of whales' baleen plates, which influences the rate at which water can be filtered, does not increase with body length to the same degree, which helps explain why ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
minke whales and humpback whales show similar average filter times.
humpback whales show an average of \(\mathrm{6.28}\) lunges per dive.
fin whales show a longer average filter time than minke whales do.
blue whales show the longest average filter time and the highest average number of lunges per dive.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Some whale species practice lunge feeding, in which they lunge toward prey with their mouths open at wide angles, collect the prey and the surrounding water, and then filter out the water through baleen plates in their mouths.' |
|
| 'Although the volume of water engulfed increases with whales' body length, the surface area of whales' baleen plates, which influences the rate at which water can be filtered, does not increase with body length to the same degree,' |
|
| 'which helps explain why ______' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Whales face a filtering challenge because their baleen plates don't scale up proportionally with their body size, even though they engulf more water as they get larger.
Argument Flow: The passage first defines lunge feeding, then presents a biological scaling problem (more water intake but relatively less filtering surface area in bigger whales), and expects us to identify what pattern this explains using the data.
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 right answer should show a pattern that makes sense with the scaling principle: bigger whales should have longer filter times since their baleen area doesn't keep up with water volume
- Looking at body lengths and filter times, we see that larger whales do take longer to filter
minke whales and humpback whales show similar average filter times.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims minke (8.88s) and humpback (17.12s) have 'similar' filter times
- These times nearly double between species - that's not similar
humpback whales show an average of \(\mathrm{6.28}\) lunges per dive.
✗ Incorrect
- Simply restates data about humpback lunges (6.28 per dive)
- Doesn't connect to the baleen scaling principle at all
fin whales show a longer average filter time than minke whales do.
✓ Correct
- Shows fin whales (18-22m, 31.30s) take longer to filter than minke whales (7-10m, 8.88s)
- Directly demonstrates that larger whales have longer filter times
- Perfectly supports the explanation about baleen scaling limitations
blue whales show the longest average filter time and the highest average number of lunges per dive.
✗ Incorrect
- While blue whales do show the longest filter time, they don't show the highest number of lunges per dive
- Contains inaccurate information