PrepTest 125, Section 1, Question 9
Passage A Drilling fluids, including the various mixtures(466 more words not shown)
Passage A(240 more words not shown)
Passage B(234 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(17 more words not shown)
- ABarite is the(13 more words not shown)
- BAlthough barite can(12 more words not shown)
- COffshore drilling is(9 more words not shown)
- DThe use of(10 more words not shown)
- EIf offshore drilling(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We need a conclusion that requires information from both accounts. Saying oil-based mud has greater environmental risks won't work: B already supplies that by itself. I don't have an exact combined claim to predict, so I'll look for two distinct pieces of evidence that genuinely fit together.
Working the answers
- A
A supplies the largest-ingredient-by-weight fact. B describes possible harm from barite, but never ranks it as the most environmentally damaging ingredient. The second half is unsupported.
- BCorrect
B says barite may affect marine organisms, particularly scallops. A describes it as a food filler and part of a medical preparation people consume. Those different facts support the contrast: it can harm marine organisms while being safely consumed by humans in the described uses. Neither account supplies both halves alone.
- C
Neither account compares the environmental damage of offshore and land-based drilling.
- D
Describing risks and current regulations doesn't establish that the writers want tighter government control.
- E
B describes harmful residues adhering to cuttings. It doesn't establish what would happen to the other discharges if no cuttings were produced. Nor does this claim combine a distinct fact from A with a fact from B.
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