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.
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.
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
2.
The passage states which one ██ ███ █████████ █████ ███████████ ███ ███████████
Question Type
Stated
The author discusses “reservoirs” in P3, so the correct answer is likely to be supported by this paragraph.
a
They are usually ███████ ██ █████ █████ ██████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ███████████
Not stated. The comments about poorly understood subsurface geology are brought up in P4 in connection with a specific well in North America. That doesn’t support any claim about what is “usually” the case.
b
They are generally ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ████████
Not stated. The coast is brought up in P4 in connection with a specific well in North America. That doesn’t support any claim about what is “generally” the case.
c
They are usually ███████ ██ ████████ ██████████ ███████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ██████
We don’t know where gas reserves are usually found. Gas reserves are mentioned in P2, but we’re never told anything about where they’re usually found.
d
They are often ████████████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ██████
P2 indicates that efforts were made to protect oil reserves from contamination by fresh water. But we don’t know whether such contamination often occurs. Perhaps the efforts to protect oil from water work? The passage just doesn’t say.
e
They are generally █████ ██ ███████ ██████ ████ ███████████ ███████████
Stated.
Difficulty
89% of people who answer get this correct
This is a slightly challenging question.
It is slightly harder than the average question in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%128
139
75%150
Analysis
Stated
Problem-analysis
Science
Single position
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
2%
155
b
1%
156
c
3%
157
d
5%
156
e
89%
164
Question history
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