Reading Passage Question

Slide an apple pie in the oven, and soon the kitchen fills with an aroma that makes your mouth water and your digestive juices flow. But boil some cabbage and — what is that awful smell? It’s sulfur, the same chemical you smell in rotten eggs. Cruciferous vegetables (the name comes from crux, the Latin word meaning cross, a reference to their x-shape blossoms), such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mustard seed, radishes, rutabaga, turnips, and watercress, all contain stinky sulfur compounds such as sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGSD), glucobrassicin, gluconapin, gluconasturtin, neoglucobrassicin, and sinigrin whose aromas are liberated when the food is heated.

“Slide an apple pie in the oven, and soon the kitchen fills with an aroma”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 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. The author likely begins the passage with the sentence [Highlighted] for what reason?

(A) To set up a contrast between the appealing smell of apple pie baking and the less pleasant smell of cruciferous vegetables being cooked.
(B) To urge readers to consider baking an apple pie instead of boiling cabbage.
(C) To discourage boiling as a means of preparing cruciferous vegetables.
(D) To build a case that apples are part of the cruciferous family.
(E) To suggest that baking an apple pie is a task achievable by most inexperienced cooks.

2. Which of the following would be a good title for this passage?

(A) Don't Boil the Cabbage!
(B) Everyone Should Know How to Bake an Apple Pie.
(C) Sulfur Is the Smell of Cruciferous Vegetables Cooking
(D) Cabbages and Radishes are Related
(E) Freeing the Stink

3. According to the passage, all of the following are sulfur compounds released by cooking except for which one?

(A) Glucobrassicin
(B) Gluconasturtin
(C) Sinigrin
(D) Plexin
(E) Sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGSD)

4. The meaning of crux, as presented in the passage, would be most helpful in determining the meaning for which of the following bolded words in phrases?

(A) The crux of the matter.
(B) The crucifix at the front of the sanctuary.
(C) The day cruise leaves at 9 AM.
(D) The crucial point.
(E) The crocus in bloom.

5. The author’s attitude towards cruciferous vegetables in the passage could best be described as which of the following?

(A) Disgusted by them
(B) Discouraging to readers who might try to cook them
(C) Dismissive of them, preferring apple pie
(D) Interested in one of their distinctive characteristics
(E) Fervent in appreciation for them

6. Which of the following statements can you most safely infer from the passage’s information?

(A) When you boil cruciferous vegetables, you will release as sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGSD), glucobrassicin, gluconapin, gluconasturtin, neoglucobrassicin, and sinigrin simultaneously.
(B) Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mustard seed, radishes, rutabaga, turnips, and watercress is a comprehensive listing of all cruciferous vegetables.
(C) The sulfuric smell from cooking cruciferous vegetables is very difficult to get rid of.
(D) Cooking an apple with cruciferous vegetables will help tame the sulfurous smell.
(E) The smell of sulfurous compounds in cruciferous vegetables is heightened by heat.

7. According to the passage, which of the following is not a cruciferous vegetable?

(A) Watercress
(B) Kale
(C) Kohlrabi
(D) Carrots
(E) Radishes

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