PT116.S1.P1.Q2 > Analytics

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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.

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Example · Oil contaminating groundwater

I'm guessing passage's style is Problem Analysis... perhaps author will talk about solutions.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

The passage states which one ██ ███ █████████ █████ ███████████ ███ ███████████

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.

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.

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.

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.

They are generally █████ ██ ███████ ██████ ████ ███████████ ███████████

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