QUESTION: 417

In Asia, where palm trees are non-native, the trees’ flowers have traditionally been pollinated by hand, which has kept palm fruit productivity unnaturally low. When weevils known to be efficient pollinators of palm flowers were introduced into Asia in 1980, palm fruit productivity increased — by up to fifty percent in some areas — but then decreased sharply in 1984.
Which of the following statements, if true, would best explain the 1984 decrease in productivity?

Prices for palm fruit fell between 1980 and 1984 following the rise in production and a concurrent fall in demand.
Imported trees are often more productive than native trees because the imported ones have left behind their pests and diseases in their native lands.
Rapid increases in productivity tend to deplete trees of nutrients needed for the development of the fruit- producing female flowers.
The weevil population in Asia remained at approximately the same level between 1980 and 1984.
Prior to 1980 another species of insect pollinated the Asian palm trees, but not as efficiently as the species of weevil that was introduced in 1980.

Answer(s): C

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QUESTION: 418

Since the mayor’s publicity campaign for Greenville’s bus service began six months ago, morning automobile traffic into the midtown area of the city has decreased seven percent. During the same period, there has been an equivalent rise in the number of persons riding buses into the midtown area. Obviously, the mayor’s publicity campaign has convinced many people to leave their cars at home and ride the bus to work.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

Fares for all bus routes in Greenville have risen an average of five percent during the past six months.
The mayor of Greenville rides the bus to City Hall in the city’s midtown area.
Road reconstruction has greatly reduced the number of lanes available to commuters in major streets leading to the midtown area during the past six months.
The number of buses entering the midtown area of Greenville during the morning hours is exactly the same now as it was one year ago.
Surveys show that longtime bus riders are no more satisfied with the Greenville bus service than they were before the mayor’s publicity campaign began.

Answer(s): C

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QUESTION: 419

In the aftermath of a worldwide stock-market crash, Country T claimed that the severity of the stock-market crash it experienced resulted from the accelerated process of denationalization many of its industries underwent shortly before the crash.
Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of Country T’s assessment of the causes of the severity of its stock-market crash?

Calculating the average loss experienced by individual traders in Country T during the crash
Using economic theory to predict the most likely date of the next crash in Country T
Comparing the total number of shares sold during the worst days of the crash in Country T to the total number of shares sold in Country T just prior to the crash
Comparing the severity of the crash in Country T to the severity of the crash in countries otherwise economically similar to Country T that have not experienced recent denationalization
Comparing the long-term effects of the crash on the purchasing power of the currency of Country T to the immediate, more severe short-term effects of the crash on the purchasing power of the currency of Country T

Answer(s): D

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QUESTION: 420

With the emergence of biotechnology companies, it was feared that they would impose silence about proprietary results on their in-house researchers and their academic consultants. This constraint, in turn, would slow the development of biological science and engineering.
Which of the following, if true, would tend to weaken most seriously the prediction of scientific secrecy described above?

Biotechnological research funded by industry has reached some conclusions that are of major scientific importance.
When the results of scientific research are kept secret, independent researchers are unable to build on those results.
Since the research priorities of biotechnology companies are not the same as those of academic institutions, the financial support of research by such companies distorts the research agenda.
To enhance the companies’ standing in the scientific community, the biotechnology companies encourage employees to publish their results, especially results that are important.
Biotechnology companies devote some of their research resources to problems that are of fundamental scientific importance and that are not expected to produce immediate practical applications.

Answer(s): D

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Free GMAT SECTION 3: VERBAL ABILITY Exam Braindumps (page: 105)

QUESTION: 417

QUESTION: 418

QUESTION: 419

QUESTION: 420