Country Bs oil production is not sufficient to meet its domestic demand .In order to sharply reduce its dependence on

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Country B's oil production is not sufficient to meet its domestic demand .In order to sharply reduce its dependence on foreign sources of oil, Country B recently embarked on a program requiring all of its automobiles to run on ethanol in addition to gasoline. Combined with its oil production, Country B produces enough ethanol from agricultural by-products to meet its current demand for energy.

Which of the following must be assumed in order to conclude that Country B will succeed in its plan to reduce its dependence on foreign oil?


(A) Electric power is not a superior alternative to ethanol in supplementing automobile gasoline consumption.

(B) In Country B, domestic production of ethanol is increasing more quickly than domestic oil production.

(C) Ethanol is suitable for the heating of homes and other applications aside from automobiles.

(D) In Country B, gasoline consumption is not increasing at a substantially higher rate than domestic oil and ethanol production.

(E) Ethanol is as efficient as gasoline in terms of mileage per gallon when used as fuel for automobiles.


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Identify the question
The question is asking us what must be assumed to conclude that Country B's plan is going to succeed. We know that this is find the assumption question.

Deconstruct the argument
-Cty B's oil prod =x= meet dos demand
- Prog: all auto run E on top of gas
- W/ oil + E prod supply = cur dem
=> Cty B reduces dep. on forgn oil

state the goal
Country B plans to sharply reduce its dependence on foreign sources of oil by imposing a program that requires all automobiles to run on ethanol in addition to gasoline. Currently, Country B produces enough ethanol and oil to meet its current demand for energy, can Country B succeed to reduce its dependence on foreign sources?. I want to find what does the author must believe it's true in order for the conclusion to hold. Assumptions that just jump out are: demand for ethanol is not increasing higher than what country B can supply, automobiles use a substantial amount of oil in Country B

from right to wrong
(A) Electric power is not a superior alternative to ethanol in supplementing automobile gasoline consumption. => irrelevant, the passage is about oil and ethanol, not electric power
(B) In Country B, domestic production of ethanol is increasing more quickly than domestic oil production.
=>unnecessary, the argument is saying that production of oil and ethanol can meet the current energy demand, so even if the production of ethanol is increasing more quickly than oil, it doesn't impact Country B's plan
(C) Ethanol is suitable for the heating of homes and other applications aside from automobiles.
=> it's good to know, it can be something Country B implement next but this doesn't have to be true in order to draw the conclusion
(D) In Country B, gasoline consumption is not increasing at a substantially higher rate than domestic oil and ethanol production.
=> as long as the demand is not increasing higher than what Country B can supply, the plan would succeed; if not, the plan will fail, and this is detrimental to the passage
(E) Ethanol is as efficient as gasoline in terms of mileage per gallon when used as fuel for automobiles.
=> unnecessary, good to know that ethanol is as efficient as gasoline but it doesn't matter whether it is as efficient as gasoline or not, the plan is focusing on whether Country B's oil and ethanol production can meet its demand or not