Multiple choice

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows:

The new laws require Agra’s steel smelting and re-rolling mills to move their operations outside the Agra city limits as they are a major source of air pollutants. The laws require that each manufacturer presents a detailed plan explaining the steps he plans to take in future to reduce pollutants in the city. Clearly, the regulations will not result in significant pollution reduction, however, as the regulations do not force manufacturers to implement their plans.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?

  1. Agra’s steel smelting and re-rolling mills are not the only source of pollution there.

  2. Detailed plans would reveal that measures to reduce released pollutants would also reduce manufacturers’ costs for materials, waste disposal, and legal services.

  3. Pollutants that manufacturing processes create but that are not released directly into the environment must nonetheless be collected and prepared for disposal.

  4. Any reductions in pollutants released from Agra’s manufacturing plants would not be noticeable for at least five years.

  5. Agra’s steel smelting and re-rolling mills have had a general track record of compliance with punitive regulations.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The argument that you have to examine is that the (new) regulations (stipulating that manufacturers should draw up detailed plans for reducing the pollutants) will not result in significant pollution reduction since the regulations do not force the manufacturers to implement the plan, i.e. they are not binding. Choice (2) is the correct answer as it says that the plans themselves would reveal that it is in manufacturer’s own favor to implement the plans.

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