The flowchart shows the procedures for preparing four traditional Nigerian foods—akara, ewa, gbegiri, and moinmoin—from cowpea seeds. Select the optio...
GMAT Graphics Interpretation : (GI) Questions
The flowchart shows the procedures for preparing four traditional Nigerian foods—akara, ewa, gbegiri, and moinmoin—from cowpea seeds.
Select the options from the drop-down menus that create the statement that Is most strongly supported by the information provided.
Owning the Dataset
Table 1: Text Analysis
| Text Component | Literal Content | Simple Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Food products | akara, ewa, gbegiri, and moinmoin | Four different traditional Nigerian foods from cowpea seeds |
| Cultural context | traditional Nigerian foods | These foods are part of Nigerian culinary culture |
| Ingredient source | cowpea seeds | All four foods have the same starting ingredient |
| Preparation steps | procedures for preparing | The focus is on step-by-step methods for making each food |
Table 2: Chart Analysis
| Chart Component | What's Shown | What This Tells Us |
|---|---|---|
| Flowchart structure | One start point (cowpea seeds), multiple branches to different foods | All foods begin the same way but diverge in preparation |
| First step | All foods: Clean and rinse cowpea seeds | Cleaning/rinsing is a universal first step |
| Ewa path | Clean and rinse → Boil whole in limited water → Ewa (no condiment step) | Ewa has the simplest process and does not involve condiments or oil |
| Akara/gbegiri/moinmoin | Paths include adding condiments and oil before final products | Akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin all require added condiments and oil |
| Number of steps | Gbegiri: 4 steps, Moinmoin: 5 steps, Akara: branches from Ewa, Ewa: 2 steps | Some foods require more preparation than others |
Key Insights
Ewa stands out as the simplest preparation, requiring only cleaning, rinsing, and boiling without condiments or oil, while akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin all require additional steps including the addition of condiments and oil. All four foods start with the same initial ingredient and first step, underlining the versatility of cowpea seeds and commonalities in traditional Nigerian food preparation.
Step-by-Step Solution
Question 1: Identifying the Preparation Exception Among Foods
Complete Statement:
Preparing each of the foods except for [BLANK 1]
Breaking Down the Statement
- Statement Breakdown 1:
- Key Phrase: Preparing each of the foods
- Meaning: This refers to the cooking or processing steps involved for all of the foods listed.
- Relation to Chart: All the preparation processes are detailed in the flowchart for akara, ewa, gbegiri, and moinmoin.
- Important Implications: We must compare the processes for all four foods and look for a commonality with one exception.
- Key Phrase: Preparing each of the foods
- Statement Breakdown 2:
- Key Phrase: except for
- Meaning: This signals that we're searching for the one food that is different from the others in its preparation.
- Relation to Chart: We need to spot the food whose preparation does not match the others in a specific step.
- Important Implications: Identifying the odd food out lets us determine the focus for the next blank.
- Key Phrase: except for
- What is needed: Which food has a preparation step that the others do not, or lacks a step that the others share.
Solution:
- Condensed Solution Implementation:
Examine the flowchart and compare each food's preparation steps to each other. Look for the one that doesn't include a specific step shared by the other three. - Necessary Data points:
Ewa is prepared via cleaning and rinsing, then boiling the seeds whole, with no condiments added. Akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin all require adding condiments and oil as part of preparation.- Calculations Estimations:
By inspection: Ewa stands out because its path proceeds directly from cleaning/rinsing to boiling seeds whole with no 'add condiments and oil' step, unlike the other foods. - Comparison to Answer Choices:
Of the options (akara, ewa, gbegiri, moinmoin), ewa is the only one without the 'add condiments' step; the others share this preparation step.
- Calculations Estimations:
FINAL ANSWER Blank 1: ewa
Question 2: Identifying the Common Preparation Step
Complete Statement:
Preparing each of the foods except for ewa involves [BLANK 2].
Breaking Down the Statement
- Statement Breakdown 1:
- Key Phrase: Preparing each of the foods except for ewa
- Meaning: This means the question refers to akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin, but not ewa.
- Relation to Chart: We need to focus on what steps those three foods have in common according to the chart.
- Key Phrase: Preparing each of the foods except for ewa
- Statement Breakdown 2:
- Key Phrase: involves
- Meaning: Asks for a specific action or step within the preparation process.
- Relation to Chart: The answer should be a step present in the preparation of akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin, but absent in ewa.
- Key Phrase: involves
- What is needed: Which step is done for akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin (but not ewa) when preparing them.
Solution:
- Condensed Solution Implementation:
Compare the preparation flowlines for the three foods to ewa and identify the step unique to their processes. - Necessary Data points:
Akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin each have a step involving 'adding condiments and oil', while ewa does not.- Calculations Estimations:
Simple pattern matching: this condiments step is absent only from ewa's path. - Comparison to Answer Choices:
Among the options (adding condiments, boiling seeds whole, cleaning and rinsing, dehulling), only 'adding condiments' appears in the paths of akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin, but not in ewa.
- Calculations Estimations:
FINAL ANSWER Blank 2: adding condiments
Summary
By examining the preparation steps in the flowchart, it's clear that ewa is different from the others in that it does not include a step to add condiments, while akara, gbegiri, and moinmoin do. Thus, ewa is the exception, and the shared step among the others is 'adding condiments.'
Question Independence Analysis
The two blanks are dependent. To answer the second blank correctly, you first need to identify which food is the exception in the first blank. The answer for Blank 2 directly references the foods identified in Blank 1.