PrepTest 124, Section 4, Question 25
Sometimes there is no more effective means of(444 more words not shown)
The author mentions the egg-laying(23 more words not shown)
- AMites that reproduce(8 more words not shown)
- BPredatory mites typically(10 more words not shown)
- CTyphlodromus can lay(7 more words not shown)
- DTyphlodromus can reproduce(7 more words not shown)
- EThe egg-laying rate(16 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The egg figures follow the claim that the predator population can increase as rapidly as its prey. Cyclamen mites lay three eggs daily for four or five days; Typhlodromus lay two or three daily for eight to ten days. Those numbers explain how the predators can keep pace.
What we’re looking for
Don't confuse reproductive capacity with seasonal timing. The next sentence discusses when reproduction occurs, which is a related but different advantage.
Working the answers
- A
Two species don't establish a rule about all mites that reproduce this way. Nor are the figures offered to show that every such species reproduces at approximately equal rates.
- B
We have one predatory genus, not a survey of what predatory mites typically do. Its longer reproductive period doesn't establish that broader claim.
- C
Seasonal synchrony is stated nearby, but the egg figures themselves explain reproductive capacity. They don't tell us which season the eggs are laid in. A true feature can still be the wrong explanation of why these particular details appear.
- DCorrect
The figures support the preceding claim that Typhlodromus can keep up with cyclamen reproduction. Their longer reproductive period helps explain why the predator population can respond to rapidly increasing prey.
- E
The text says Typhlodromus reproduce only when feeding on cyclamen mites. It doesn't say their egg-laying rate is slower when those mites are present than when they are absent.
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