GMAT Verbal Reasoning Practice Test 7

Question : 27 of 100

Marks: +1, -0

Fire ants have invaded much of the southern United States and, as a result, horned lizards have disappeared in invaded areas, because the fire ants, which sting aggressively, kill the young lizards and eliminate the harvester ants that are the lizards’ primary food. Populations of horned lizards have declined even in those southern localities that as yet remain free of fire ants, but ecologists believe that decline is also attributable to the southern states’ invasion by fire ants?
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest justification for the ecologists’ belief?

Colonies of harvester ants in areas that had previously been free of fire ants are neither physically nor behaviorally equipped to withstand an attack by invading fire ants
In the regions to which the fire ants are native, predators of fire ants keep the fire ant population from becoming a threat to other animals
Publicity about the invading fire ants’ aggressive stinging has encouraged the extensive use of ant baits and poisons as preventative measures
In southern areas that remain free of the invading fire ants, populations of lizards other than horned lizards have declined
Some of the populations of horned lizards in southern localities that remain free of fire ants began declining before the fire and invasion of the southern states

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