Question 97·Easy·Inferences
Botanist Dr. Kwon spent several years studying a remote population of mountain lilies that bloom briefly each spring. She observed that during years with late frosts, the lilies produced far fewer seeds than they did during milder springs. Yet she also recorded many more lilies surviving to the following season after a late-frost year. Dr. Kwon proposes that in harsh conditions the plants redirect the resources they would normally use for seed production toward maintaining their own tissues, thereby increasing their chances of surviving another year.
These observations suggest that, compared with plants flowering in mild springs, plants flowering after late frosts are more likely to ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For “Which choice most logically completes the text?” questions, first identify the key claim or explanation in the sentences right before the blank, then restate that idea in your own words. Next, scan the answer choices and pick the one that best paraphrases that idea without adding new information or contradicting the passage. Quickly eliminate any option that introduces a new concept (like evolution, specific animals, or timing changes) that is not clearly supported by the text.
Hints
Locate the key sentence
Reread the final sentence, where Dr. Kwon proposes an explanation. That sentence tells you exactly what she thinks happens in harsh conditions.
Focus on resource use
Ask yourself: according to that last sentence, what changes about how the plants use their resources in late-frost years compared with mild years?
Eliminate answers that add new ideas
Check each answer choice and remove any that mention topics not discussed in the passage, such as new kinds of traits, specific pollinators, or seed germination timing.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the key observations
First, note what Dr. Kwon observed:
- In years with late frosts, the lilies produced far fewer seeds.
- In those same years, many more lilies survived to the next season.
So there is a trade-off: fewer seeds, but more plant survival.
Understand Dr. Kwon’s explanation
Now focus on the last sentence:
Dr. Kwon proposes that in harsh conditions the plants redirect the resources they would normally use for seed production toward maintaining their own tissues, thereby increasing their chances of surviving another year.
In your own words, she thinks that in harsh years, the plants change how they use their limited resources so they are more likely to stay alive instead of making as many seeds.
Connect the explanation to the blank
The question asks: “These observations suggest that, compared with plants flowering in mild springs, plants flowering after late frosts are more likely to ______.”
So the blank must describe what the plants are more likely to do in harsh, late-frost years, based on Dr. Kwon’s explanation about changing resource use. Look for the choice that matches her proposal and does not introduce any new, unsupported idea.
Match the best paraphrase to Dr. Kwon’s idea
Choice A says that the plants "allocate more resources to their own survival than to producing seeds," which directly matches Dr. Kwon’s proposal that they redirect resources from seed production to maintaining their own tissues to survive. The other options bring in ideas about rapid evolution, special pollinators, or seed germination timing, none of which are mentioned in the passage. Therefore, the correct answer is “allocate more resources to their own survival than to producing seeds.”