Text 1 Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor. Umami—one of the five basic tastes...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Text 1
Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor. Umami—one of the five basic tastes along with sweet, bitter, salty, and sour—was formally classified when its taste receptors were discovered in the 2000s. In 2007, to define the pure umami flavor scientists Rie Ishii and Michael O'Mahony used broths made from shiitake mushrooms and kombu seaweed, and two panels of Japanese and US judges closely agreed on a description of the taste.
Text 2
A 2022 experiment by Manon Jünger et al. led to a greater understanding of soy sauce's flavor profile. The team initially presented a mixture of compounds with low molecular weights to taste testers who found it was not as salty or bitter as real soy sauce. Further analysis of soy sauce identified proteins, including dipeptides, that enhanced umami flavor and also contributed to saltiness. The team then made a mix of 50 chemical compounds that re-created soy sauce's flavor.
Based on the texts, if Ishii and O'Mahony (Text 1) and Jünger et al. (Text 2) were aware of the findings of both experiments, they would most likely agree with which statement?
On average, the diets of people in the United States tend to have fewer foods that contain certain dipeptides than the diets of people in Japan have.
Chemical compounds that activate both the umami and salty taste receptors tend to have a higher molecular weight than those that only activate umami taste receptors.
Fermentation introduces proteins responsible for the increase of umami flavor in soy sauce, and those proteins also increase the perception of saltiness.
The broths in the 2007 experiment most likely did not have a substantial amount of the dipeptides that played a key part in the 2022 experiment.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor." |
|
| "Umami—one of the five basic tastes along with sweet, bitter, salty, and sour—was formally classified when its taste receptors were discovered in the 2000s." |
|
| "In 2007, to define the pure umami flavor scientists Rie Ishii and Michael O'Mahony used broths made from shiitake mushrooms and kombu seaweed, and two panels of Japanese and US judges closely agreed on a description of the taste." |
|
| "A 2022 experiment by Manon Jünger et al. led to a greater understanding of soy sauce's flavor profile." |
|
| "The team initially presented a mixture of compounds with low molecular weights to taste testers who found it was not as salty or bitter as real soy sauce." |
|
| "Further analysis of soy sauce identified proteins, including dipeptides, that enhanced umami flavor and also contributed to saltiness." |
|
| "The team then made a mix of 50 chemical compounds that re-created soy sauce's flavor." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Two different research approaches—one isolating pure umami (2007) and one analyzing complete soy sauce flavor (2022)—reveal different aspects of umami taste perception.
Argument Flow: Text 1 establishes umami as a recognized taste and describes 2007 research that isolated pure umami using simple broths. Text 2 presents 2022 research that discovered soy sauce's complexity comes from proteins that create both umami and saltiness together.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? What both research teams would agree on if they knew findings from both experiments
What type of answer do we need? A statement that logically follows from combining insights from both studies
Any limiting keywords? N/A
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The 2007 study focused on defining pure umami using simple broths
- The 2022 study found that dipeptides create both umami AND saltiness together
- If both teams knew both findings, they'd recognize that achieving pure umami required avoiding the saltiness-contributing compounds
On average, the diets of people in the United States tend to have fewer foods that contain certain dipeptides than the diets of people in Japan have.
✗ Incorrect
- Makes claims about US vs Japanese diets not supported by the text
Chemical compounds that activate both the umami and salty taste receptors tend to have a higher molecular weight than those that only activate umami taste receptors.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims about molecular weight and receptor activation go beyond what either study measured
Fermentation introduces proteins responsible for the increase of umami flavor in soy sauce, and those proteins also increase the perception of saltiness.
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses on fermentation introducing proteins without textual support for this causal relationship
The broths in the 2007 experiment most likely did not have a substantial amount of the dipeptides that played a key part in the 2022 experiment.
✓ Correct
- The 2007 study used broths to define pure umami flavor
- The 2022 study found dipeptides that enhance umami but also contribute saltiness
- Both teams would agree that achieving pure umami required avoiding the saltiness-contributing compounds the 2022 study identified