Here is my answer breakdown:
A- keep as answer choice
B- cannot be proven based on stimulus, eliminate
C- doesn't say that this is the result of the inability to regenerate in its own shade, but could be, i kept this
D- kind of taking things a bit too far, eliminate
E- keep as answer choice
I luckily guessed A but originally had C.
How are C and E wrong? E seems quite similar to A and I was really stuck on this question for a long time.
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- skapur777
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Atticus Finch
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Re: Q13 - Mature white pines intercept almost
Thanks for sharing your thought process!
My first thought here was, hmm, if there are a bunch of white pines all clustered together, but they can't grow in each others' shade, then they must have all grown at around the same time -- otherwise the full-grown ones would have prevented others from popping up nearby.
(A) is correct because it describes that inference. The ages of the trees must not differ by too much.
(B) Is out because we only know that white pines prevent new ones from regenerating in their shade, not that all trees do this. And other trees didn't necessarily get removed beforehand; maybe the white pines killed them off.
(C) is incorrect because the stimulus does not give us any indication that the trees kill each other. It only tells us that new white pines can't regenerate in their own shade -- but we would need to know that some trees are shorter, and thus in the shade of others, before we could say that some would die. Plus, how do we know this will happen "soon"? So we have no basis to say that the fully-grown trees are going to start dying off.
(D) is just wildly out of scope.
(E) is fishy because of the word "only." We don't know that age is the only thing that would contribute to differences in height. Any number of factors might be involved -- say, predators, or lumberjacks, or bacteria. Who knows?
Does that answer your question?
My first thought here was, hmm, if there are a bunch of white pines all clustered together, but they can't grow in each others' shade, then they must have all grown at around the same time -- otherwise the full-grown ones would have prevented others from popping up nearby.
(A) is correct because it describes that inference. The ages of the trees must not differ by too much.
(B) Is out because we only know that white pines prevent new ones from regenerating in their shade, not that all trees do this. And other trees didn't necessarily get removed beforehand; maybe the white pines killed them off.
(C) is incorrect because the stimulus does not give us any indication that the trees kill each other. It only tells us that new white pines can't regenerate in their own shade -- but we would need to know that some trees are shorter, and thus in the shade of others, before we could say that some would die. Plus, how do we know this will happen "soon"? So we have no basis to say that the fully-grown trees are going to start dying off.
(D) is just wildly out of scope.
(E) is fishy because of the word "only." We don't know that age is the only thing that would contribute to differences in height. Any number of factors might be involved -- say, predators, or lumberjacks, or bacteria. Who knows?
Does that answer your question?
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- skapur777
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Atticus Finch
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Re: Q13 - Mature white pines intercept
Yeah i see how that is correct. however, my confusion revolves around the wording.
A says the ages of the trees do not differ by much more than the length of time it takes for one to grow to maturity...
so confused by what exactly that is saying...the other ones make sense as to why they are wrong
A says the ages of the trees do not differ by much more than the length of time it takes for one to grow to maturity...
so confused by what exactly that is saying...the other ones make sense as to why they are wrong
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- jayparkcom
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Re: Q13 - Mature white pines intercept almost
What the hack...
Am I the only person who was confused of this question due to the word "regenerate?"
Regenerate means restore something but such word was used as if it meant "grow."
Any thought????
Am I the only person who was confused of this question due to the word "regenerate?"
Regenerate means restore something but such word was used as if it meant "grow."
Any thought????
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- Raymond.Keimer
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Vinny Gambini
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Re: Q13 - Mature white pines intercept almost
I too am confused by the phrasing of A. Can someone help? 
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- christine.defenbaugh
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Atticus Finch
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Re: Q13 - Mature white pines intercept almost
The wording of (A) is rather confusing!
In fact, the stimulus itself is a bit dense! First, "regenerate" is being used in this context to mean 'procreate' rather than either 'grow' or 'restore'. Essentially, we've got:
The only way that could have happened is if they grew up together. So they have to be around the same age! (A) is the only answer choice that tells us the trees are around the same age. Specifically, it tells us that however long it takes a white pine to grow from seed to mature, that's around the maximum difference in age between the trees.
Think for a second about the first white pine tree in that dense forest. Whenever it hits maturity, at that point no other white pines are going to be able to grow in its shade - and that means no other tree will be able to grow close to it after that. So those trees that are close to it had to get started growing before the first tree finished maturing.
As an example: if the first tree takes 5 years to mature, there's a 5 year window for other white pines to get in close before the shade will prevent it. Therefore any trees super close together have to be within 5 years of age of one another!
As a strategic point, (A) is the only answer choice that tells me the ages of the trees don't differ by much. Even if I were a bit confused at exactly what the limits on age differences was, I know that I want an answer that limits the age differences somehow.
I hope this helps clear things up a bit!
In fact, the stimulus itself is a bit dense! First, "regenerate" is being used in this context to mean 'procreate' rather than either 'grow' or 'restore'. Essentially, we've got:
- Mature white pines soak up all the light in a wide area.
That's why baby white pines can't grow in momma's shade.
The only way that could have happened is if they grew up together. So they have to be around the same age! (A) is the only answer choice that tells us the trees are around the same age. Specifically, it tells us that however long it takes a white pine to grow from seed to mature, that's around the maximum difference in age between the trees.
Think for a second about the first white pine tree in that dense forest. Whenever it hits maturity, at that point no other white pines are going to be able to grow in its shade - and that means no other tree will be able to grow close to it after that. So those trees that are close to it had to get started growing before the first tree finished maturing.
As an example: if the first tree takes 5 years to mature, there's a 5 year window for other white pines to get in close before the shade will prevent it. Therefore any trees super close together have to be within 5 years of age of one another!
As a strategic point, (A) is the only answer choice that tells me the ages of the trees don't differ by much. Even if I were a bit confused at exactly what the limits on age differences was, I know that I want an answer that limits the age differences somehow.
I hope this helps clear things up a bit!
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