The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Official Guide

Critical Reasoning

Inference

MEDIUM

...

Notes

Post a Query

The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality. The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity.

If the statements above are all true, which of the following conclusions is best supported by them?

When an olive oil is refined, the concentration of oleic acid in the oil is reduced.

The quality of an unrefined olive oil can be determined only by accurately measuring its acidity.

If an unrefined olive oil is intermediate in acidity between two other unrefined olive oils, it will also be intermediate between them in quality.

Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.

People who judge the quality of unrefined olive oils actually judge those oils by their acidity, which the judges can taste.

Solution

Passage Visualization

Passage Statement	Visualization and Linkage
"The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity"	Establishes: Official quality standards exclude acidity Example: Industry quality ratings might use factors like: Flavor profile Color Processing method Origin Key Insight: Acidity is NOT part of formal quality definition
"yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality"	Establishes: Empirical relationship between oleic acid and quality Concrete Example: Oil A: 2g oleic acid/liter → High quality Oil B: 8g oleic acid/liter → Lower quality Oil C: 15g oleic acid/liter → Poor quality Pattern: Inverse relationship - less oleic acid = better quality
"The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity"	Establishes: Oleic acid = acidity measurement Connection: 2g oleic acid/liter = Low acidity 8g oleic acid/liter = Medium acidity 15g oleic acid/liter = High acidity Key Link: This connects oleic acid levels to acidity levels
Overall Implication	PARADOX REVEALED: Official quality standards ignore acidity BUT reality shows: lower acidity = higher quality Therefore: Acidity is actually a reliable quality predictor despite being excluded from official definitions Practical Implication: Acidity testing could improve quality assessment even though it's not officially recognized

Valid Inferences

Inference: Despite not being part of official quality standards, acidity serves as a reliable indicator of unrefined olive oil quality.

Supporting Logic: Since extensive testing shows that lower oleic acid content correlates with higher quality, and since oleic acid content accurately measures acidity, we can conclude that lower acidity predicts higher quality. This creates a situation where acidity - though excluded from formal quality definitions - actually functions as an effective quality predictor in practice.

Clarification Note: The passage supports that acidity can predict quality, but does not suggest that official quality standards should be changed or that acidity is the only quality indicator.

Answer Choices Explained

When an olive oil is refined, the concentration of oleic acid in the oil is reduced.

This statement discusses what happens when olive oil is refined, but our argument only talks about unrefined olive oil. We have no information about the refining process or how it affects oleic acid concentration, so we cannot make this conclusion.

The quality of an unrefined olive oil can be determined only by accurately measuring its acidity.

This is too extreme. While the passage shows that acidity correlates with quality, it doesn't say that acidity is the ONLY way to determine quality. The phrase 'can be determined only by' makes this too restrictive compared to what we can actually conclude from the passage.

If an unrefined olive oil is intermediate in acidity between two other unrefined olive oils, it will also be intermediate between them in quality.

This follows logically from the established relationships in the passage. Since lower oleic acid means higher quality, and oleic acid measures acidity, we have a consistent ranking system. If one oil has intermediate acidity between two others, its quality will also be intermediate between them. This is a valid inference that flows directly from the given information.

Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.

The passage tells us that oleic acid is an accurate measure of acidity, but it doesn't say oleic acid is the ONLY acid present. This goes beyond what we can conclude from the given information.

People who judge the quality of unrefined olive oils actually judge those oils by their acidity, which the judges can taste.

This makes assumptions about how people judge quality and whether they can taste acidity. The passage doesn't provide any information about tasting, judging methods, or people's sensory abilities, so this conclusion isn't supported.

Rate this Solution

Tell us what you think about this solution

...

Forum Discussions

Start a new discussion

Post

Previous Attempts

Loading attempts...