PrepTest 158, Section 1, Question 3
A major problem facing industrial societies is their(443 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(17 more words not shown)
- AFew of the(22 more words not shown)
- BFew of the(20 more words not shown)
- CMany of the(20 more words not shown)
- DThe movement of(13 more words not shown)
- EMethods of predicting(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The author is worried that toxic waste can reach drinking water, even when we try to put it somewhere separate. One reason is that underground movement is hard to predict.
What we’re looking for
To strengthen that concern, give us another reason to think the waste can travel farther or be harder to contain. We need support for the danger the author actually describes.
Working the answers
- A
This points the other way. If few suitable rock formations connect with drinking-water sources, that gives the waste fewer routes to those sources. It doesn't eliminate every risk, but it doesn't strengthen this concern.
- B
Lack of testing on nonhuman organisms doesn't establish the threat to people's drinking water that drives the author's warning. It tells us about a gap in a different kind of testing, not that the described contamination risk is greater.
- C
Distance from the industrial facility isn't the relevant separation. A waste site could be far from a factory and still be connected to a community's drinking-water supply. C tells us neither way.
- DCorrect
Faster and less predictable movement makes it harder to keep waste away from drinking water. A site that seems safely distant could contaminate another area sooner than expected, directly reinforcing the author's third problem.
- E
Better prediction and monitoring would help people anticipate or detect the movement of waste. That could reduce the concern rather than support the claim that the method is risky.
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