PrepTest 116, Section 1, Question 4
The accumulation of scientific knowledge regarding the environmental(459 more words not shown)
The author uses the phrase(22 more words not shown)
- Aa lack of(11 more words not shown)
- Ba failure to(10 more words not shown)
- Cpoorly tested methods(8 more words not shown)
- Dan inadequate appreciation(9 more words not shown)
- Ea rudimentary understanding(9 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The phrase points to dangers we haven't understood well enough to prevent. Around it, we hear about uncertainty over how long protective barriers will last, then about a drilling site whose geology was poorly understood. So I'd predict risks arising from incomplete knowledge of what drilling will do.
Working the answers
- A
This is tempting because contaminated drinking water can affect people. But the discussion here concerns how drilling contaminates the water, not what particular health effects contaminated water has. A shifts to the next consequence rather than identifying the knowledge gap being discussed.
- BCorrect
Uncertain barrier performance and the poorly understood channel to the ocean are both gaps in understanding drilling's consequences within the surrounding geology. B covers the risks described around the phrase.
- C
No methods for verifying the safety of newly developed technology are identified as poorly tested. We have unanswered questions about the practices and their effects, not this specific criticism of a testing method.
- D
The problem is inadequate scientific understanding, not difficulty getting regulations enacted or enforced.
- E
The casing example concerns how it holds up in the well—corrosion and dissolving cement—not inadequate knowledge of how its materials are manufactured. E also misses the separate geological problem in the coastal example.
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