In parts of South America, vitamin-A deficiency is a serious health problem, especially among children. In one region, agriculturists hope...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Official Guide

Critical Reasoning

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In parts of South America, vitamin-A deficiency is a serious health problem, especially among children. In one region, agriculturists hope to improve nutrition by encouraging farmers to plant a new variety of sweet potato called SPK004 that is rich in betacarotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. The plan has good chances of success, since sweet potato is a staple of the region's diet and agriculture, and the varieties currently grown contain little beta-carotene.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the prediction that the plan will succeed?

There are other vegetables currently grown in the region that contain more beta-carotene than the currently cultivated varieties of sweet potato do.

The flesh of SPK004 differs from that of the currently cultivated sweet potatoes in colors and textures, so traditional foods would look somewhat different when prepared from SPK004.

For successful cultivation of SPK004, a soil significantly richer in nitrogen is needed than is needed for the varieties of sweet potato currently cultivated in the region.

There are no other varieties of sweet potato that are significantly richer in beta-carotene than SPK004 is.

The currently cultivated varieties of sweet potato contain no important nutrients that SPK004 lacks.

Solution

Passage Analysis:

Text from Passage	Analysis
In parts of South America, vitamin-A deficiency is a serious health problem, especially among children.	What it says: There's a vitamin A shortage causing health issues for kids in South America What it does: Sets up the problem that needs solving What it is: Background context/problem statement
In one region, agriculturists hope to improve nutrition by encouraging farmers to plant a new variety of sweet potato called SPK004 that is rich in beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.	What it says: Agricultural experts want farmers to grow SPK004 sweet potatoes that have lots of beta-carotene (which becomes vitamin A in our bodies) What it does: Introduces the proposed solution to the vitamin A problem What it is: Author's description of the plan Visualization: Problem: 1000 kids lacking vitamin A → Solution: SPK004 potatoes with high beta-carotene → Body converts to vitamin A
The plan has good chances of success, since sweet potato is a staple of the region's diet and agriculture, and the varieties currently grown contain little beta-carotene.	What it says: The plan should work well because people already eat lots of sweet potatoes, but current ones don't have much beta-carotene What it does: Makes the main prediction and gives two reasons supporting why the solution will work What it is: Author's conclusion with supporting evidence Visualization: Current situation: People eat 500 sweet potatoes/year with 5% beta-carotene → New plan: Same 500 potatoes/year but with 80% beta-carotene

Argument Flow:

We start with a health problem (vitamin A deficiency), then get a proposed solution (plant SPK004 sweet potatoes), and finally see the author's prediction that this plan will succeed based on two key facts about the region

Main Conclusion:

The plan to have farmers plant SPK004 sweet potatoes has good chances of success in solving the vitamin A deficiency problem

Logical Structure:

The author connects the solution to the problem by showing that since people already eat sweet potatoes regularly (so they'll eat the new variety) and current varieties lack beta-carotene (so there's room for improvement), switching to SPK004 should effectively deliver more vitamin A to the population

Prethinking:

Question type:

Strengthen - We need to find information that would increase our belief that the SPK004 sweet potato plan will successfully improve vitamin A nutrition in the region

Precision of Claims

The conclusion predicts SUCCESS of a specific plan (SPK004 implementation) to solve a specific problem (vitamin A deficiency) through a specific mechanism (beta-carotene conversion). Success depends on adoption, consumption, and nutritional impact

Strategy

Since this is a strengthen question, we need to think about what additional information would make us more confident that the plan will work. The plan relies on several steps: farmers adopting SPK004, people eating the new potatoes, and the beta-carotene actually improving vitamin A levels. We should look for scenarios that support any weak links in this chain or add evidence that the plan's assumptions are sound

Answer Choices Explained

There are other vegetables currently grown in the region that contain more beta-carotene than the currently cultivated varieties of sweet potato do.

This tells us there are other vegetables with more beta-carotene than current sweet potatoes, but this doesn't help the SPK004 plan succeed. In fact, it might suggest people could get beta-carotene from these other vegetables instead of needing SPK004. This doesn't strengthen the prediction about SPK004's success.

The flesh of SPK004 differs from that of the currently cultivated sweet potatoes in colors and textures, so traditional foods would look somewhat different when prepared from SPK004.

This highlights that SPK004 looks and feels different from current sweet potatoes, which could actually hurt the plan's chances. If traditional foods look different, people might be less willing to accept and eat SPK004. This weakens rather than strengthens the prediction of success.

For successful cultivation of SPK004, a soil significantly richer in nitrogen is needed than is needed for the varieties of sweet potato currently cultivated in the region.

This creates an obstacle for the plan by requiring richer soil and more nitrogen for SPK004 cultivation. This makes it harder for farmers to successfully grow SPK004, which would hurt the plan's chances of success. This weakens rather than strengthens the argument.

There are no other varieties of sweet potato that are significantly richer in beta-carotene than SPK004 is.

This says no other sweet potato varieties are richer in beta-carotene than SPK004. While this confirms SPK004 is the best sweet potato option for beta-carotene, it doesn't address whether the plan will actually succeed in getting farmers to adopt it and people to eat it. This provides minimal strengthening.

The currently cultivated varieties of sweet potato contain no important nutrients that SPK004 lacks.

This eliminates a major potential problem with the plan. If current sweet potatoes had important nutrients that SPK004 lacks, switching to SPK004 could create new nutritional deficiencies even while solving the vitamin A problem. By confirming SPK004 doesn't lack any important nutrients, we remove this concern and make the plan much more likely to succeed without unintended consequences.

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