The expansion of large-scale farming in Africa and Asia has destroyed much of the natural vegetation on which elephants have...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Official Guide

Critical Reasoning

Logically Completes

MEDIUM

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The expansion of large-scale farming in Africa and Asia has destroyed much of the natural vegetation on which elephants have historically depended, forcing them to turn to cultivated land to satisfy their enormous appetites. As a result, farmers have lost millions of dollars worth of crops annually. Yet even if elephant sanctuaries were created on a widespread basis to guarantee elephants sufficient natural vegetation, the raiding would likely persist, since ______.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

when elephants forage for food, they typically travel in herds.

Foraging elephants have been known to cause substantial damage even to plants that they do not eat.

Some of the land where crops have suffered extensive damage from elephants has been allowed to return to its natural state.

Elephants tend to prefer cultivated crops to wild vegetation as a food source.

Elephant sanctuaries are usually created in areas that are rich in the natural vegetation on which elephants have historically depended.

Solution

Passage Analysis:

Text from Passage	Analysis
The expansion of large-scale farming in Africa and Asia has destroyed much of the natural vegetation on which elephants have historically depended, forcing them to turn to cultivated land to satisfy their enormous appetites.	What it says: Large farms wiped out elephant food sources, so elephants now eat crops instead What it does: Sets up the root cause of the problem we'll be discussing What it is: Author's explanation of background situation Visualization: Before: Elephants → Natural vegetation (abundant). After: Large farms replace vegetation → Elephants → Cultivated crops
As a result, farmers have lost millions of dollars worth of crops annually.	What it says: This elephant crop-eating costs farmers millions every year What it does: Shows the consequences and scale of the problem from the farming expansion What it is: Author's claim about economic impact Visualization: Annual farmer losses: $50+ million from elephant crop raids
Yet even if elephant sanctuaries were created on a widespread basis to guarantee elephants sufficient natural vegetation, the raiding would likely persist, since ______.	What it says: Even with sanctuaries providing enough natural food, elephants would probably still raid crops What it does: Presents a surprising contrast to what we'd expect and sets up the blank to explain why What it is: Author's prediction that needs justification

Argument Flow:

We start with the problem setup - farming expansion destroyed elephant food sources, forcing them to raid crops and cost farmers millions. Then we get a surprising twist - even if we solve the original problem by creating sanctuaries with plenty natural food, the raiding would continue. The blank needs to explain why elephants would keep raiding even when they have enough natural food available.

Main Conclusion:

Creating elephant sanctuaries with sufficient natural vegetation would not stop crop raiding

Logical Structure:

The argument uses a problem-solution-counterargument structure. It establishes that lack of natural vegetation causes crop raiding, then argues that even solving this root cause wouldn't work. The missing piece needs to provide a reason why access to natural food wouldn't eliminate the raiding behavior.

Prethinking:

Question type:

Logically Completes - We need to find a statement that explains why elephant crop raiding would continue even if sanctuaries provided sufficient natural vegetation

Precision of Claims

The key claim is about elephant behavior - specifically that raiding would 'likely persist' despite having adequate natural food sources in sanctuaries. We need to explain this seemingly counterintuitive behavior

Strategy

Since the argument establishes that lack of natural food caused crop raiding, but then claims raiding would continue even with adequate sanctuary food, we need to find reasons why elephants would still prefer or be drawn to crops over natural vegetation. This could involve behavioral patterns, food preferences, or practical barriers to using sanctuaries

Answer Choices Explained

when elephants forage for food, they typically travel in herds.

This tells us elephants travel in herds when foraging, but traveling patterns don't explain why they'd continue raiding crops when natural food is available in sanctuaries. Whether elephants forage alone or in groups doesn't address the preference or motivation issue that would cause persistent raiding behavior.

Foraging elephants have been known to cause substantial damage even to plants that they do not eat.

While this mentions elephants cause damage to plants they don't eat, it doesn't explain why raiding would persist when sanctuaries provide sufficient natural vegetation. The issue isn't about collateral damage during foraging - it's about why elephants would still target cultivated areas instead of staying in well-stocked sanctuaries.

Some of the land where crops have suffered extensive damage from elephants has been allowed to return to its natural state.

This discusses some damaged crop land returning to natural state, but this doesn't explain why elephants would continue raiding other cultivated areas when sanctuaries provide adequate natural vegetation. If anything, more natural areas should reduce raiding according to the passage's initial logic.

Elephants tend to prefer cultivated crops to wild vegetation as a food source.

This perfectly explains why raiding would persist - elephants actually prefer cultivated crops over wild vegetation as food. Even if sanctuaries provide sufficient natural vegetation, elephants would still be drawn to farms because they find crops more appealing than their natural food sources. This directly addresses why solving the 'lack of natural food' problem wouldn't eliminate raiding.

Elephant sanctuaries are usually created in areas that are rich in the natural vegetation on which elephants have historically depended.

This tells us sanctuaries are created in areas rich in natural vegetation, but this actually supports the idea that sanctuaries should solve the problem rather than explaining why raiding would persist. If sanctuaries have the right vegetation that elephants historically depended on, this should reduce raiding according to the passage's logic.

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