Critical Reasoning

Can the reason for not implementing a PLAN be a weakener of why the PLAN is not effective in achieving the given goal?

Acid rain, caused by high levels of sulphur dioxide and mercury trapped in global air currents, affects one third of China's territory. Coal-fired power plants are notorious for emitting large quantities of these pollutants. To combat the problem, the Chinese national government has set aggressive environmental goals for the next five years. These goals include a 20% improvement in energy efficiency and a pledge that, by the end of the five years, 10% of the nation's energy will come from renewable resources such as hydroelectric or wind power.

Which of the following, if true, is the best criticism of the Chinese government's strategy as a method for achieving a reduction in acid rain?

A) Some forms of air pollution, such as heavy particulate fumes, would not be affected by the suggested energy improvements.
B) Once the changes have been implemented, the actual reduction in acid rain would vary from region to region.
C) The goals would be forced on every region in China, including those that have no problems with acid rain.
D) Acid rain is also caused by other factors, such as volcanic eruptions or pollution from neighboring countries, over which China has no control.
E) Regional Chinese officials tend to ignore environmental regulations in order to meet aggressive economic requirements imposed on their region's industries.

OA is E
Source : Veritas Prep

I applied the above learning to another PLAN question below:

Unlike juvenile diabetes, which is a genetic condition present from birth, type-2 diabetes is acquired in adulthood, generally as a result of obesity and inactivity. The number of cases of type-2 diabetes has been steadily increasing in the United States since 1970, indicating to many researchers that the American population is becoming increasingly heavy and sedentary. If the government wishes to stem the spread of the disease, it should educate the public about the dangers of an inactive, calorie-laden lifestyle and promote healthful diets and exercise.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to believe that the proposed education program will NOT be effective?

A) School health programs already educate middle-school students about the issue.
B) The public already has access to this information through the Internet.
C) Food companies encourage the public to indulge in unhealthful snacks.
D) The government has not set aside money for such a program.
E) Healthful foods and exercise programs are beyond the financial means of many people.

I chose answer choice D.
OA is E

Source: MGMAT

Can experts please comment if anything is wrong with my approach or understanding?

Can the reason for not implementing a PLAN be a weakener of why the PLAN is not effective in achieving the given goal?

The answer is explicitly NO! And that is why you answered incorrectly on the second question.

I can help you understand the reasoning in the Veritas question and how to apply that reasoning.

In the first example, the Veritas question, the PLAN is to set the "aggressive environmental goals." The PLAN is NOT to actually switch to 20% improvement in efficiency and 10% renewable resources. The PLAN is to make that the goal that the country is supposed to work towards. The PLAN is not the actual wind turbines and solar panels.

Answer Choice E is correct NOT because it prevents the implementation of the plan, IT DOES NOT PREVENT THE PLAN FROM BEING IMPLEMENTED - after all the plan is just to set the goals - instead it shows that even when the plan is implemented there might be NO reduction in acid rain because the goals will be ignored at a lower level of bureaucracy.

As an aside, I nearly drove off the road last month when I heard on National Public Radio (NPR) here in America, this exact question reported as news! They literally said "China has this great five year plan but it will not come to anything because -- And then the basically said what E says word for word! Now the thing is that I have been teaching this question for at least 4 years. So it appears that I can predict the future! (Okay, I did not write this one, but someone has predicted the future!)

Do you fully understand why A and D are not correct on this one? Does anyone need an explanation for those answers?

Unlike juvenile diabetes, which is a genetic condition present from birth, type-2 diabetes is acquired in adulthood, generally as a result of obesity and inactivity. The number of cases of type-2 diabetes has been steadily increasing in the United States since 1970, indicating to many researchers that the American population is becoming increasingly heavy and sedentary. If the government wishes to stem the spread of the disease, it should educate the public about the dangers of an inactive, calorie-laden lifestyle and promote healthful diets and exercise.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to believe that the proposed education program will NOT be effective?

A) School health programs already educate middle-school students about the issue.
B) The public already has access to this information through the Internet.
C) Food companies encourage the public to indulge in unhealthful snacks.
D) The government has not set aside money for such a program.
E) Healthful foods and exercise programs are beyond the financial means of many people.

I chose answer choice D.
OA is E

Here is your second question that you posted. Do you see the difference between choice D here and choice E on the above question?

Choice D here actually tries to prevent the implementation of the plan. Whereas choice E on the Prior Question about China did not prevent the plan from being implemented, it merely stated that when implemented the plan may still come to nothing.

IN FACT, Choice E on this question is VERY CLOSE to Choice E on the China question!!! Look at it, we are going to EDUCATE the PUBLIC (this is a lot like setting aggressive goals in China) and then choice E says that People Cannot Afford the Healthy foods and exercise programs (this is very much like saying that regional officials have to pay attention to economics and not the environment on the China question). The plan to Inform or to set Goals is implemented but for some reason it does not have the desired effect.

Does that help?

One more comment about the second question that you posted and answer choice D.

The PLAN and GOAL are:

If the government wishes to stem the spread of the disease, it should educate the public about the dangers of an inactive, calorie-laden lifestyle and promote healthful diets and exercise.

And Answer choice D says

D) The government has not set aside money for such a program.

I placed the bold type on the word "should" in the PLAN quoted above. I did that to emphasize a point that you can use in many cases. Here it is:

You cannot weaken a "should" with some obstacle in reality. "Should" and "reality" do not weaken each other.

Think about it, if I say that you "should study every Tuesday because that is the best day to study." If you say that you "are busy on Tuesdays and in reality cannot study on that day" this does not weaken my conclusion that you SHOULD study on Tuesday.

In this case the fact that the government has not yet funded the program does not weaken the idea that they should implement it.

buoyant wrote:
Acid rain, caused by high levels of sulphur dioxide and mercury trapped in global air currents, affects one third of China's territory. Coal-fired power plants are notorious for emitting large quantities of these pollutants. To combat the problem, the Chinese national government has set aggressive environmental goals for the next five years. These goals include a 20% improvement in energy efficiency and a pledge that, by the end of the five years, 10% of the nation's energy will come from renewable resources such as hydroelectric or wind power.

Acid Rain ---> Caused by SO2

Coal-fired power plants----->Pollutes largely by emitting such harmful gasses.




Hence Chinese Government has pledged to reduce emission of such harmful gasses by switching to renewable resources such as hydroelectric or wind power.

Which of the following, if true, is the best criticism of the Chinese government's strategy as a method for achieving a reduction in acid rain?


A)Some forms of air pollution, such as heavy particulate fumes, would not be affected by the suggested energy improvements.

Not relevant.

B)Once the changes have been implemented, the actual reduction in acid rain would vary from region to region.

Can not be definitely be stated.

C)The goals would be forced on every region in China, including those that have no problems with acid rain.

Nothing mentioned in the passage whether Chinese will willing to abide by the regulations or not..

D)Acid rain is also caused by other factors, such as volcanic eruptions or pollution from neighboring countries, over which China has no control.

Might be true - Lets keep it aside since there might be other factors resulting in emission of SO2.

E)Regional Chinese officials tend to ignore environmental regulations in order to meet aggressive economic requirements imposed on their region's industries.

Might be true.


Now we have to decide between (D) and (E)

(D) Doesn't directly criticize the strategy adopted by the Chinese Government , in fact it just opens another door for thinking which may be a major contributor of SO2 emission..

In other words it weakens the decision of the Chinese Government .

Hence (E) wins over (D)...

Hi,

Can anyone please give some insight on choice (D) of Q1
(D) Acid rain is also caused by other factos, such as volcanic eruptions or pollution from neighboring countries, over which China has no control

Chinese Govt. has a strategy - aggressive environment goals for next 5 years
These goals include - 20% improvement in energy efficiency
- 10% of energy coming from renewable sources.

These will help in achieving the reduction in acid rain.

Now, the question is why D cannot be the answer ?

Chinese govt. is creating plans for its own self-created problems so that these problems can be reduced if not eliminated. "D" is talking about other factors such problems coming from neighbouring nations. Our whole argument is constructed on what is happening inside the nation. According to which a plan is made.

E- touches inside problems of the country by saying officials will themselves ignore the plan
D- talks about the same problem but coming from outside

Please let me know if my line of reasoning is correct.

hello,

Can anyone please analyse my post above and let me know if i am correct or not

Thank you