Q17 - The tiny hummingbird weighs

[Celeste757]

Hello,

I got this one down to B and C. I picked C, which is correct, but that was a guess. I don't really understand the difference between the 2, it seems to me they are saying the same exact thing. I picked C because it had the word "ratio" in it, and the example gave numbers, but i am assuming there is a reason why B itself is WRONG.

thanks!!

[bbirdwell]

Nowhere is there any evidence to suggest that angioplasty is the ONLY treatment for clogged arteries. It simply says that angioplasty is "a technique."

[sbuzzetto10]

I also had trouble with this question..I was between A and D. I eliminated C because only 3 different species were given to illustrate the proposition and C seemed way too broad a claim to make based on only 3 bird species. Could someone please explain this?

Also, I believe the response bbirdwell gave is to section 4, number 12. I posted under this question because it said "hummingbird" although the correct number is section 2, number 17.

[bbirdwell]

Right you are! I've corrected the post heading... Thanks!

First of all, I recommend getting really familiar with the question types. This question type is asking for a proposition, or principle, based on the info in the argument. That means our job is to derive something general from something specific. Knowing this, we can see that "broad" answers will often be correct, because that's sort of the task we're being asked to perform -- extrapolate and broaden.

So here's the pattern we're given:

hummingbird egg = 15% of adult weight
goose egg = 4% of adult weight
ostrich egg = 1.6% of adult weight

What general principle is at work here? The bigger the bird, the proportionately smaller the egg, and vice versa: the smaller the bird, proportionately larger the egg.

(A) we might leave this one on a first pass.
(B) incorrect - the eggs are proportionately heavier, not "heavier and larger"
(C) leave
(D) eliminate. "little effect?" We have no evidence here whatsoever to suggest what "effect" the egg is having on the adult.
(E) eliminate. we don't know whether this is true.

So we're down to (A) and (C) on our first pass. Let's take a closer look.

What do know about the ratio of volume to weight of the eggs? Nothing! We only know about the ratio of adult weight to egg weight. Egg volume is never mentioned. Eliminate (A).

[Crogati]

Could (B) be the right answer if it said:

"The smaller and lighter the average adult members of a bird species are, the larger (rather than larger and heavier) the eggs of that species are."


Thanks!

[foralexpark]

Could (B) be the right answer if it said:

"The smaller and lighter the average adult members of a bird species are, the larger (rather than larger and heavier) the eggs of that species are."


Thanks!

I don't think it works, since we don't know anything about the size of the eggs.

maybe an egg of an ostrich is as small as pea, but it weights a ton

[tommywallach]

Hey Crogati,

Foralex is correct here. Even if (B) said that, the passage doesn't support it, primarily because we haven't been told anything about the overall size of eggs, only the weight of them.

-t

[danielznelson]

I don’t understand “C” because it claims that the ratio of egg weight to adult member weight is smaller for larger birds than for smaller ones.

But isn’t a smaller ratio something like 2:1 compared to 4:1? With this, the answer choice should be reading the opposite.

Obviously, I’m missing something here, but what is it?

[LaurenL251]

Hi everyone!

I am just really confused about the idea of ratios in this sense. I thought ratios were like 2:3 (two boys to every 3 girls in a classroom). We are only given the percent. How do we translate that to a ratio if I don't know the given weight of a hummingbird, goose, or ostrich?

Hummingbird weight: 0.12 oz
Goose weight: 11 lbs
Ostrich weight: 220 lbs

Hummingbird egg weight (15%): .018 oz
Goose egg weight (4%): .44 lbs
Ostrich egg weight (1.6%): 3.52 lbs


The ratio of egg weight to body weight is smaller for larger birds than for smaller ones. What does smaller mean in this sense? Does it means the egg weight is closer to the body weight for smaller birds than larger birds? As in the gap between the two weights is smaller?

Hummingbird ratio: .018 : 0.12 which can become 1.8/12 or 396/2640
Ostrich ratio: 3.52 : 220 which can become 3.52/220 or 42/2460

So, from this we can see that the Ostrich (larger bird) has a smaller ratio than the Hummingbird (smaller bird). I know I did way too much, and it could all be wrong. I just don't understand how someone can figure this out without doing the math...HELP?!

Any help would be amazing!
Thank you!