Multiple choice

Directions: For this question, select the best of the answer choices given.

Passengers must exit airplanes swiftly after accidents, since gases released following accidents are toxic to humans and often explode soon after being released. In order to prevent passenger deaths from gas inhalation, safety officials recommend that passengers be provided with smoke hoods that prevent inhalation of the gases. Which of the following, if true, constitutes the strongest reason not to require implementation of the safety officials' recommendation?

  1. Test evacuations showed that putting on the smoke hoods added considerably to the overall time it passengers to leave the cabin.

  2. Some airlines are unwilling to buy the smoke hoods because they consider them to be prohibitively expensive.

  3. Although the smoke hoods protect passengers from the toxic gases, they can do nothing to prevent the gases from igniting.

  4. Some experienced flyers fail to pay attention to the safety instructions given on every commercial flight before takeoff.

  5. In many airplane accidents, passengers who were able to reach emergency exits were overcome by toxic gases before they could exit the airplane.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The argument recommends smoke hoods to prevent gas inhalation deaths. However, Option A notes that smoke hoods significantly increase evacuation time, which could cause more deaths from explosions or continued gas exposure. This creates a practical trade-off that undermines the recommendation's effectiveness.

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