Insects are Known to Function as Pollinators of The Lupine GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Insects are known to function as pollinators of the lupine, a flowering plant. It has been found that lupines removed from their native habitats and therefore from insects native to those habitats are usually infertile. Nevertheless, anecdotal reports of wind pollination in lupines cannot be ignored. The structure of lupines' male cones is quite consistent with the wind dispersal of pollen, clouds of which are released from some of the larger cones. The male cone of Lupinus jaimehintoniana, for example, sheds almost100 cubic centimeters of pollen, most of which is probably dispersed by wind. Still, many male lupine cones are comparatively small and thus produce far less pollen. Furthermore, the structure of most female lupine cones seems inconsistent with direct pollination by wind. Only in the Lupinus genus are the females' ovules accessible to forborne pollen, since only in this genus are the ovules surrounded by a loose aggregation of megasporophylls rather than by a tight cone.

“Insects are known to function as pollinators of the lupine GMAT Reading Comprehension” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension. This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. According to the passage, the size of a male lupine cone directly influences which of the following?

1. The arrangement of the male cone's structural elements
2. The amount of pollen produced by the male cone
3. The mechanism by which pollen is released from the male cone
4. The male cone's attractiveness to potential insect pollinators
5. The degree to which the ovules of female lupine are accessible to airborne pollen

2. The evidence in favor of insect pollination of lupine presented in the second sentence of the passage would be more convincing if which of the following were also true?

1. Insects indigenous to regions to which lupine are transplanted sometimes feed on lupine.
2. lupine can sometimes be pollinated by means other than wind or insects.
3. Only a small variety of lupine species can be successfully transplanted.
4. The transplantation of lupine from one region to another usually involves the accidental removal and introduction of insects as well.
5. Winds in the areas to which lupine are usually transplanted are similar to winds in lupines'native habitats.

3. The passage suggests that which of the following is true of scientific investigations of lupine pollination?

1. They have, until recently, produced little evidence in favor of insect pollination in lupine.
2. The physical characteristics of the male lupine reproductive system are not conducive to insect-borne pollination.
3. Systematic evidence of wind pollination in lupines is not available.
4. They have primarily been carried out using lupine transplanted from their native habitats.
5. The structure of female lupine cones helps confirm anecdotal reports concerning the wind pollination of lupine.

4. The author of the passage is likely to disagree with all of the following EXCEPT:

1. Most plants in the lupine genus are likely to be pollinated directly by wind.
2. The presence of a tight cone in the ovules of female lupine plants would make it less conducive to wind pollination.
3. Clouds of pollen are released from large male cones of lupine plants to facilitate insect pollination.
4. During the transplantation of lupine plants to habitats other than their own, insects native to the original habitat also often get transplanted.
5. The structure of female lupine cones and the size of male lupine cones together contribute to the infertility of transplanted lupine plants.

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

• With the Approach of the Twentieth Century, The Classical Wave Theory of Radiation GMAT Reading Comprehension
• By 1950, The Results of Attempts to Relate Brain Processes to Mental Experience Appeared GMAT Reading Comprehension
• In February 1848 the People of Paris Rose in Revolt GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Over the Last 150 Years, Large Stretches of Salmon Habitat have been Eliminated GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Brain Contributes to the Adaptive Success of Animals GMAT Reading Comprehension
• One Scientific Discipline, During Its Early Stages of Development GMAT Reading Comprehension
• But Man is Not Destined to Vanish. He can be Killed, GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Coral Reefs Are One of the Most Fragile, Biologically Complex GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Although Numbers of Animals in a Given Region May Fluctuate GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Even More Than Mountainside Slides of Mud or Snow, Naturally Occurring Forest Fires GMAT Reading Comprehension
• An Experiment Conducted Aboard Space Lab in 1983 GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Coral Reefs Increasingly Face a Number of Threats GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Shortness, Reduced Mobility and Sore Joints May not Come to Mind GMAT Reading Comprehension
• When I Talk About UFOs in my Introductory Astronomy Classes GMAT Reading Comprehension
• There is a New Cell-Phone Ring Tone that can't be Heard by Most People GMAT Reading Comprehension
• A Growing Taste for Shark Steaks and Shark-Fin Soup has for the First Time in 400 Million Years GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Erythropoietin, Known also as EPO, is a Glycoprotein Hormone that Controls the Production of Red Blood Cells GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Ideas Involving the Theory of Probability Play a Decisive Part in Modern Physics. GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Isolated From the Rest of the World by Circumpolar Currents and Ice Fields, the Dry Valleys of Antarctica Never See Snowfall. GMAT Reading Comprehension
• In the Fast New Choreography of American Compassion, Explanation is Twirled into Excuse GMAT Reading Comprehension