Self-study
P1
The accumulation of scientific knowledge regarding the environmental impact of oil well drilling in North America has tended to lag behind the actual drilling of oil wells. ████ ████████ ██ ████████ ███ ████████ ████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████ ███ ██████████ ███████ ████████ ████ █████ ███████████ ██████ ██████ ███
Problem ·
Knowledge of environmental impact lags behind oil drilling
Regulation is retrospective (occurs only after something bad has happened), as opposed to prospective.
Example ·
Oil contaminating groundwater
I'm guessing passage's style is Problem Analysis... perhaps author will talk about solutions.
P2
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Background and Context of Problem ·
Early regulation aimed to protect oil, not ground water
That's crazy! Back then, the concern was about ground water contaminating oil not the other way around. I suppose that makes sense. It was the 1800s.
P3
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Mechanics of the Problem ·
Drilling removed barrier between oil and groundwater
Both are in porous "geologic formations" and drilling creates a tunnel connecting the two which is what causes contamination.
Initial Solution ·
Seal off groundwater with protective barrier
I'm imagining something like a huge straw that can suck the oil up past the groundwater layer without the oil leaking through the sides of the straw and hence no contamination.
P4
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Problem with solution ·
Regulations suffer from insufficient knowledge
Example of Problem ·
Long-term stability unknown
The "straw" could corrode, among other problems
Example of Problem ·
Existing regulations cannot accomodate unknown risks
A recent major disaster revealed poor understanding of west coast geology that resulted in widespread contamination. Passage fits Problem Analysis but also fits Critique. Author critiques the current solution as inadequate.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
4.
The author uses the phrase
a
a lack of █████████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██████ █████ ██ ███████████ █████████████
This doesn’t fit, because the examples in the last paragraph relate to potential problems with our methods of avoiding groundwater contamination. Our lack of knowledge might lead to groundwater contamination. But the examples don’t involve how contamination might affect human health.
b
a failure to ██████████ ███ ████████ ████████████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███████
This is the best answer. “Consequences of drilling in complex geologic systems” is a more general way to describe potential effects of groundwater bacteria, traffic vibrations, changing groundwater chemistry, and the subsurface geology.
c
poorly tested methods ███ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ █████████ ████████████
The examples in the last paragraph don’t involve methods for verifying the safety of technologies. They involve risks from poor understanding of various aspects of groundwater and geology. Although the author would agree that we can’t be sure our protective technologies are safe, this doesn’t imply that we have poor methods for testing safety. The problem isn’t with our testing methods, it’s with our lack of understanding.
d
an inadequate appreciation ███ ███ ████████████ ██ ████████ ███ █████████ █████████████ ███████████
The examples in the last paragraph don’t relate to the difficulties of passing and enforcing regulations.
e
a rudimentary understanding ██ ███ █████████ ████ ██ █████████████ █████ ████ ███████
This doesn’t fit, because the potential issues with metal pipe casings is just one example of a hazard of insufficient knowledge. In addition, the “materials used in manufacturing metal pipe casings” is too narrow. The author does indicate that there might be risk from