Critical Reasoning

Urban air contains more sulfur dioxide than does rural air, and plants in cities typically grow more slowly than
do plants in rural areas. In an experiment to see how much of the difference in growth is due to sulfur dioxide,
classes in an urban and a rural school grew plants in greenhouses at their schools and filtered the greenhouse
air to eliminate sulfur dioxide. Plants in the urban greenhouse grew more slowly than those in the rural
greenhouse. Which of the following, if true, would it be most important to take into account in
evaluating the result?
A. The urban school was located in a part of the city in which levels of sulfur dioxide in the air were usually far
lower than is typical for urban areas.
B. At both schools, the plants in the greenhouses grew much more quickly than did plants planted outdoors in
plots near the greenhouses.
C. The urban class conducting the experiment was larger than the rural class conducting the experiment.
D. Heavy vehicular traffic such as is found in cities constantly deposits grime on greenhouse windows, reducing the
amount of light that reaches the plants inside.
E. Because of the higher levels of sulfur dioxide in the air at the urban school, the air filters for the urban school's
greenhouse were changed more frequently than were those at the rural school.



Will post OA after some discussion.