Acid Rain

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Acid Rain

by adi_800 » Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:21 am
Acid rain, caused by high levels of sulfur dioxide and mercury trapped in global
air currents, affects one-third of China's territory. Coal-! red 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 5 years. These goals include a 20 percent improvement in
energy efficiency and a pledge that by the end of the 5 years, 10 percent 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 regions' industries.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by adi_800 » Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:21 am
This ones from Veritas book...d book dat was mailed for d session..
So dont have d oa..

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by thephoenix » Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:36 am
imo D
it highlights another cause which exists even after commencement of the program hence weakens the argument
Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working

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by adi_800 » Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:49 am
Lets say...chinese govt strategy worked perfectly but as china does not have any control over acid rains caused by other factors such as volcanic eruptions..how can we blame government..
I think the words over which china has no control are important here...

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by reply2spg » Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:07 am
I guess answer is E

Premises -
Acid rain affects one-third of China's territory.
Coal-! red power plants are notorious for emitting large quantities of these pollutants.
Solution/conclusion - the Chinese national government has set aggressive environmental goals for the next 5 years

Underlying assumption - Current regulations will be intact and plants will reduce emission of these pollutants.

Explanation -
adi_800 wrote:Acid rain, caused by high levels of sulfur dioxide and mercury trapped in global
air currents, affects one-third of China's territory. Coal-! red 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 5 years. These goals include a 20 percent improvement in
energy efficiency and a pledge that by the end of the 5 years, 10 percent 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. - We do not have any idea about those air pollutants and we don't know whether they are causing any pollution. There is no information in the passage.
(B) Once the changes have been implemented, the actual reduction in acid rain
would vary from region to region. - We don't need anything after implementation
(C) The goals would be forced on every region in China, including those that have
no problems with acid rain. - This is just a statement and we know that this is going to happen
(D) Acid rain is also caused by other factors, such as volcanic eruptions or pollution
from neighboring countries, over which China has no control. - This is good contender. However, if this is true then China whould have known this and it will not implement any regulations for the thing, which is not in their hand. I think this is an additional information which we don't need
(E) Regional Chinese officials tend to ignore environmental regulations in order to
meet aggressive economic requirements imposed on their regions' industries. - IMO This is correct. Regional Chinese officials are ignoring the regulations on the regions' industries. So these regions' industries will keep on producing pollutants and it will harm China's plan
Sudhanshu
(have lot of things to learn from all of you)

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by debmalya_dutta » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:29 am
My pick is D

(D) Acid rain is also caused by other factors, such as volcanic eruptions or pollution
from neighboring countries, over which China has no control. - shows why pollution levels will be unaffected by the government's action . So even if the regulation is enforced on Chinese industries , the acid rain will continue to affect China because the pollution is caused by factors outside China's control

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by Rakan » Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:37 am
IMO: A or E

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by boazkhan » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:20 pm
D in my opinion is the answer. The argument falls apart if acid rain is also caused by other factors.