PrepTest 109, Section 1, Question 5
A recent national study of the trash discarded(78 more words not shown)
The main conclusion of the(3 more words not shown)
- Aplastics constitute a(11 more words not shown)
- Bthe ratio of(15 more words not shown)
- Cpopular opinion regards(19 more words not shown)
- Dcontrary to popular(20 more words not shown)
- Eat this time(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
There is less plastic trash than paper trash. The passage checks that comparison two ways, by weight and by volume, so we don't need to guess which measure produced the result.
It then says equal amounts of the two kinds of trash do roughly equal environmental damage. On those facts, I can see why the larger amount of paper trash would cause more damage than the smaller amount of plastic trash.
But what about making the products in the first place? Suppose producing plastic creates environmental harm that isn't captured by examining the discarded trash. Paper production might have its own effects too. The study of trash hasn't compared all of that. So I would question the jump from the damage caused by discarded materials to the harm caused by their current use overall.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the main conclusion, so we need to identify the claim we just questioned. The author says current plastic use does less environmental harm nationwide than current paper use. We can recognize that as the point even while wanting more evidence for it. The trash comparison supplies the support; the broader comparison of harm is what the author wants us to accept.
Working the answers
- A
This is evidence for the conclusion. A smaller proportion of plastic trash, together with similar harm per amount of trash, helps the author argue that plastic use causes less harm. A stops at the quantity of trash and leaves out the conclusion about environmental damage.
- B
The study's comparison holds whether we measure trash by weight or by volume. That doesn't say the two materials have identical weight-to-volume ratios. More importantly, a claim about that ratio wouldn't state the author's point about which material's current use causes more harm.
- C
This describes the popular view the author opposes. Saying “contrary to popular opinion” signals that the author is challenging that view, not trying to establish it. C leaves out the author's own judgment that the usual comparison of harm is backward.
- D
The author compares the damage from current use. D goes further and predicts what would happen if we changed from paper to plastic. The passage doesn't recommend or evaluate that shift. Even if D sounds related, identifying the conclusion requires staying with the claim actually made.
- ECorrect
This states the comparison from the other direction: paper use currently causes more environmental harm nationwide than plastic use. That is equivalent to the author's claim that plastic use currently causes less harm than paper use.
Notice both the subject and the timing. We are comparing total harm from current use, not just the amount of discarded trash and not the outcome of a future switch. That's the conclusion the study is offered to support.
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