A major problem facing industrial societies is their exponentially inc

Question

A major problem facing industrial societies is their
exponentially increasing production of toxic waste.
Environmental regulations and expenses for landfills and
incinerators have increased significantly in recent years.
  (5)   In an effort to save time and money, many industries
have turned to alternative methods of hazardous-waste
disposal, including increased use of deep-well injection.
In this method, wells are drilled into porous and
permeable rock strata that are already saturated with salt
  (10)   water. Liquid wastes are then injected into the rock
strata. Most of these wells are drilled to a depth of at
least 300 meters—the minimum depth that generally puts
the injected waste at a safe distance below any aquifer, in
this case a rock stratum containing drinkable water. Such
  (15)   wells are rarely deeper than 1,800 meters, because
below this depth it is more cost-effective to consider an
alternative method of disposal. Deep-well injection,
which has been used to some extent since the 1930s, has
become a matter of controversy as growing numbers of
  (20)   communities come to rely on underground sources of
drinking water. The controversy arises because there are
three serious problems with this method of waste
disposal.

Under the best conditions, wastes are injected into
  (25)   rock strata saturated with salt water and separated by
impermeable rock strata from aquifers containing
drinkable water. However, injection wells may leak,
allowing significant amounts of noxious chemicals to
mix with supplies of drinking water. In other cases,
  (30)   mistakes by personnel working on the wells may lead
to the pollution of aquifers. In one such case, workers
installing a 500-meter-deep well left a gap along
approximately 30 meters of its steel casing. This allowed
waste to escape at depth of only 200 meters, threatening
  (35)   a regional aquifer supplying water to 100,000 people.
Because such accidents take place deep within the earth,
people may be exposed to dangerous levels of waste
materials for long periods of time before the problem is
even discovered.

(40)   The third problem associated with deep-well
injection arises from the fact that it is nearly impossible
to predict how the injected wastes will be acted on by the
geological features of the injection area. Unlike surface
water, the water in underground rock strata does not flow
  (45)   entirely under the influence of gravity. Moving along
subterranean pressure gradients, it can flow in any
direction and, in some cases, can be transported
thousands of meters per year through geologic faults,
porous rock, or other geologic formations.

(50)   The significant uncertainty about where
injected wastes will flow, along with the
possibilities of mechanical failure and human
error, makes deep-well injection a risky means of
managing hazardous wastes. Unfortunately, as
  (55)   societies produce more toxic waste, industry will
rely increasingly upon this relatively cheap,
efficient means of disposal.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) Deep-well injection of hazardous wastes is unsafe when expensive precautionary measures are not taken.
(B) Although deep-well injection of hazardous wastes can be unsafe, it is generally safe when proper procedures are followed and sites are carefully selected.
(C) Because of the high costs and extensive regulations associated with other methods, deepwell injection has wholly supplanted alternative methods of hazardous-waste disposal.
(D) The increasing use of deep-well injection as a method of hazardous-waste disposal is seriously problematic.
(E) Careful design and location of deep-well-injection facilities is important because communities commonly rely on groundwater for drinking.

2 
 2. The passage most strongly suggests that which one of the following is true?

(A) The use of landfills and incinerators for the disposal of hazardous wastes is no longer considered safe.
(B) Injection of hazardous wastes at depths of more than 1,800 meters is less expensive but more dangerous than injection of such wastes at 300 meters.
(C) Deep-well injection of hazardous wastes can contaminate aquifers of drinking water that are great distances from the deep-well-injection site.
(D) Disposal of hazardous wastes in landfills involves various risks, but—unlike deep-well injection—it does not involve the risk of contaminating groundwater.
(E) Drinking-water wells are usually deeper than the wells that are drilled for deep-well injection of hazardous wastes.

3 
 3. Which one of the following would, if true, most strengthen the author’s position regarding the risks of deep-well injection of hazardous wastes?

(A) Few of the rock formations that industries consider suitable for deep-well injection of hazardous wastes are adjacent to or connected to sources of drinkable groundwater.
(B) Few of the toxic substances that are commonly disposed of through deep-well injection have been thoroughly tested for their effects on nonhuman organisms.
(C) Many of the sites at which hazardous-waste-injection wells are drilled are many miles from the industrial facilities that use them for waste disposal.
(D) The movement of underground water is even more rapid and less predictable than most geologists believe.
(E) Methods of predicting and monitoring the movement of underground water have significantly improved in the time since the author gathered data.

4 
 4. According to the passage, which one of the following is true of underground water?

(A) It can be suitable as a source of public drinking water even when contaminated by low levels of deep-well injected wastes.
(B) It can seldom be found at depths of less than 200 meters in regions in which deep-well injection is practiced.
(C) It can seldom be used as a source of water for industrial processes.
(D) It can contain a high concentration of salt as a result of contamination by deep-well-injected wastes.
(E) It can move from one underground formation to another due to factors other than gravity.

5 
 5. Based on the passage, which one of the following most accurately states the purpose of deep-well injection of hazardous waste?

(A) It serves as a short-term storage method for wastes while their toxicity is neutralized.
(B) It makes aboveground hazardous-waste disposal methods obsolete.
(C) It contains hazardous wastes in saltwater-saturated underground areas.
(D) It creates underground pools of waste that can easily be continuously and reliably monitored.
(E) It recycles certain low-toxicity wastes.

6 
 6. According to the passage, deep-well injection of hazardous wastes has become

(A) more controversial because of an increased dependence on underground sources of drinking water
(B) more controversial because of an increase in toxinrelated illnesses near deep-well-injection areas
(C) more widely accepted because newly developed alternatives are more expensive than deep-well injection
(D) more widely accepted because of increasing public awareness of environmental issues
(E) more widely accepted because of relatively high toxicity of wastes that are disposed of by deep-well injection

7 
 7. Based on the passage, which one of the following most accurately describes the ideal characteristics of an underground area suitable for the deep-well injection of hazardous wastes?

(A) At 300 meters or more below the surface, the area contains a layer of impermeable rock below which there are no permeable layers.
(B) At 300 meters or more below the surface, the area contains a layer of permeable rock above which there is a layer of impermeable rock.
(C) The area contains one or more layers of impermeable rock extending from near the surface to a depth of at least 300 meters.
(D) At a depth of 300 meters or less, the area contains an aquifer into which water flows.
(E) The area contains a layer of impermeable rock overlain by a layer of permeable rock at a depth of 1,800 meters or more.

RC Butler 2023  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 76 Date: 24-Mar-2023
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2023 .  Click here for Details

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 90   
 Difficulty Level:   600

Aishyk97 · Answer

During your first reading, the highlighted points should stick out at you.

A  major problem  facing industrial societies is their exponentially increasing production of toxic waste. Environmental regulations and expenses for landfills and incinerators have increased significantly in recent years.  In an effort to save  time and money, many industries have turned to  alternative  methods of hazardous-waste disposal, including increased use of deep-well injection. In this method, wells are drilled into porous and permeable rock strata that are already saturated with salt water. Liquid wastes are then injected into the rock strata. Most of these wells are drilled to a depth of at least 300 meters—the minimum depth that generally puts the injected waste at a safe distance below any aquifer, in this case a rock stratum containing drinkable water. Such wells are rarely deeper than 1,800 meters, because below this depth it is more cost- effective to consider an alternative method of disposal. Deep-well injection, which has been used to some extent since the 1930s, has become a matter of controversy as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water.  The controversy arises because there are three serious problems with this method of waste disposal.

Under the  best conditions , wastes are injected into rock strata saturated with salt water and separated by impermeable rock strata from aquifers containing drinkable water.  However,  injection wells may leak, allowing significant amounts of noxious chemicals to mix with supplies of drinking water.  In other cases,  mistakes by personnel working on the wells may lead to the pollution of aquifers.  In one such case , workers installing a 500-meter-deep well left a gap along approximately 30 meters of its steel casing. This allowed waste to escape at a depth of only 200 meters, threatening a regional aquifer supplying water to 100,000 people. Because such accidents take place deep within the earth, people may be exposed to dangerous levels of waste materials for long periods of time before the problem is even discovered.

The  third problem  associated with deep-well injection arises from the fact that it is  nearly impossible  to predict how the injected wastes will be acted on by the geological features of the injection area.  Unlike  surface water, the water in underground rock strata does not flow entirely under the influence of gravity. Moving along subterranean pressure gradients, it can flow in any direction and, in some cases, can be transported thousands of meters per year through geologic faults, porous rock, or other geologic formations.
The  significant uncertainty  about where injected wastes will flow, along with the possibilities of mechanical failure and human error, makes deep-well injection  a risky means of managing hazardous wastes .  Unfortunately,  as societies produce more toxic waste, industry will rely increasingly upon this relatively cheap, efficient means of disposal.

Discussion
The passage opens with a problem: industrial societies are producing more and more toxic waste. The author then presents one current solution: deep-well injection. Industries drill wells to store waste deep into the earth, below any drinking water level. The paragraph ends with the author noting that this solution is controversial and creates three serious problems. This sets up the Topic (deep-well injection) and the Scope (its associated problems). Expect the author to describe the problems. Then, pay attention to whether the author takes a positive turn (e.g., shows a way to eliminate or solve these problems) or stays negative (e.g., retains a dim view of deep-well injection).
As expected, the next two paragraphs outline the three problems. The second paragraph provides the first two: 1) wells can leak, spilling chemicals into drinking water, and 2) workers can make mistakes, which can take a long time to discover. The third paragraph adds: 3) geological features can have unpredictable effects on what happens underground.
The word “ nfortunately” in the final paragraph signals that the author has no good news. The passage concludes by confirming the dangers of deep-well injection and lamenting that industries will continue to use it.

Aishyk97 · Answer

So, the author’s Purpose is to describe the problems of deep-well injection.
The Main Idea is that industries continue to use deep-well injection to get rid of waste, but it’s a controversial and dangerous solution.
 1. (D) Primary Purpose  
Step 1: Identify the Question Type
The question asks for the “main point of the passage,” making this a Global question.
Step 2: Research the Relevant Text
All of the text is relevant to a Global question. Don’t reread the passage content. Instead, consider the Main Idea you distilled while reading the passage.
Step 3: Make a Prediction
The author’s Main Idea is that deep-well injection is an increasingly used solution for disposing of toxic waste, but there are lots of problems with it.
Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(D) is correct, describing the author’s negative view toward deep-well injection.
(A) is a Distortion. This only describes deep-well injection as unsafe in the absence of expensive precautionary measures. However, the author does not discuss such measures or claim that they would make deep-well injection safer.
(B) is Out of Scope. The author focuses exclusively on the problems with deep-well injection, not procedures that would make it safe.
(C) is Extreme. The author claims that deep-well injection is increasingly used, not that it has “wholly supplanted” other methods. Moreover, this choice entirely ignores the author’s scope: the problems with deep-well injection.
(E) is a Distortion. While deleterious effects on drinking water are one problem the author cites for deep-well injection, the passage concentrates on this and other problems, not on the design and location of injection facilities.

2. (C) Inference 
Step 1: Identify the Question Type
The question asks for something the passage “strongly suggests,” making this an Inference question.
Step 2: Research the Relevant Text
With no line references or content clues, the correct answer could be supported by a statement from anywhere in the passage. Everything is potentially relevant.
Step 3: Make a Prediction
An open-ended question like this can be impossible to predict. Instead, go through the choices individually, sticking close to the author’s tone and watching out for extreme choices. Use content clues in the choices to do further research, if needed.
Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(C) is correct. According to the third paragraph, one potential problem with deep-well injection is that various geological factors can lead to waste being transported “thousands of meters per year” underground.
(A) is Out of Scope. In the first paragraph, the author suggests that industries have switched to deep-well injection because regulations make landfills and incinerators expensive, not because those methods are unsafe.
(B) is a 180. According to the first paragraph, drilling doesn’t occur below 1,800 meters because it then becomes less cost-effective, suggesting that it’s more expensive to drill that deep. And the author says nothing about it being any more or less dangerous at deeper levels.
(D) is Out of Scope. The author makes no mention of whether landfills affect groundwater.
(E) is a 180. In the first paragraph, the author mentions that waste wells are usually drilled at a safe distance below aquifers (sources of drinkable water), not above them.

3. (D) Logic Reasoning (Strengthen) 
Step 2: Identify the Question Type
The correct answer here will be a fact that, if true, “strengthen  the author’s position.” That makes this a Strengthen question much like those found in Logical Reasoning.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
The author’s conclusion is that deep-well injection is risky. The evidence is all of the information from the second and third paragraphs: that wells can leak, workers can make mistakes, and waste may act unpredictably underground.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
The correct answer will provide further evidence that any one of these problems can pose a risk.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(D) is correct. In the third paragraph, the author cites the unpredictability of geology as a potential problem. If things are even more unpredictable than believed, that just makes it more likely that problems will occur, making deep-well injection more likely to be risky.
(A) is a 180. If suitable drilling sites are rarely near sources of drinking water (i.e., further away), then that means the wells are less likely to pose a risk.
(B) is irrelevant. Thorough testing—which hasn’t happened—might show the chemicals to be more or less harmful than previously suspected. What’s more, this choice focuses on the effects on nonhuman organisms, while the author’s argument is based on the risks to people.
(C) is irrelevant. This choice suggests yet another risk: spills or accidents in waste transportation. That doesn’t directly strengthen the author’s point that the wells are unsafe, nor does the author tell you how far waste must be transported under alternative disposal techniques (maybe the sites for alternate disposal are even farther away than the deep-well- injection sites).
(E) is a 180. If methods for studying underground water have gotten better, then it could be easier to predict what will happen, which could actually reduce the assumed risk.

4. (E) Detail 
Step 2: Identify the Question Type
The question asks for something that “ ccording to the passage ... is true.” That makes this a Detail question.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
In the first two paragraphs, the water underground in injection wells is said to be “salt water.” However, more substantial information about this water is provided in the third paragraph, when this water is compared to surface water.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
According to the third paragraph, “water in underground rock strata” differs from surface water in that underground water “does not flow entirely under the influence of gravity,” and it “can be transported thousands of meters per year through geologic faults, porous rock, or other geologic formations.”
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(E) is correct, as established by the last sentence of the third paragraph. (A) is a 180, at worst. Contamination is described as a problem. There is
no suggestion that water is okay if contamination is low.
(B) is a 180. The first paragraph mentions how waste wells are often drilled at least 300 meters down, into rock layers that are “saturated with salt water.”
(C) is Out of Scope. There is no mention of whether underground water can be used for industrial processes.
(D) is a 180. The first paragraph suggests that underground rock layers are “already saturated with salt water” when the wells are drilled. It does not say that the waste increases the salinity.

5. (C) Inference 
Step 2: Identify the Question Type
The question asks for information “based on the passage,” making this an Inference question.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
The author describes the purpose of deep-well injection in the first paragraph.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
According to the first paragraph, deep-well injection is one of the “alternative methods of hazardous-waste disposal” that industries are using because of the “increasing production of toxic waste.”
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(C) is correct. It’s a hazardous waste disposal method that, as described in the first paragraph, involves injecting that waste into areas “saturated with salt water.”
(A) is Out of Scope. There is no indication that these wells are temporary or short-term solutions.
(B) is a Distortion. Industries are using deep-well injection to “save time and money,” not because other methods are obsolete.
(D) is a 180. In the third paragraph, the author cites the difficulty of predicting what will happen to the wastes as one of the method’s problems. That suggests it cannot be reliably monitored.
(E) is Out of Scope. The author makes no mention of recycling waste.

6. (A) Detail 
Step 2: Identify the Question Type
This is a Detail question. The phrase “ ccording to the passage” indicates that the correct answer will be directly stated in the passage.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
The question asks about what deep-well injection “has become,” so you’re looking for something the author has identified as a recent trend or occurrence. A quick glance at the answer choices reveals that this method has either become “more controversial” or “more widely accepted.” This refers to information in the first paragraph.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
At the end of the first paragraph, the author mentions that deep-well injection has become “a matter of controversy as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water.”
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(A) is correct, paraphrasing the end of the first paragraph.
(B) is Out of Scope. There is no mention of toxin-related illnesses.
(C) is a Distortion and a 180. At the beginning of the passage, deep-well injection is identified as less expensive than landfills and incinerators. However, those solutions are not “newly developed alternatives.” Besides, deep-well injection has become controversial, not widely accepted.
(D) is partly Out of Scope, and partly a 180. There is no mention of increased public awareness of environmental problems, and deep-well injection has become controversial, not widely accepted.
(E) is a 180. Deep-well injection is controversial. It is not widely accepted, precisely because of how toxic the effects of the waste can be on drinking water.

7. (B) Inference 
Step 2: Identify the Question Type
The correct answer will be “based on the passage” and will most accurately describe criteria the author has outlined. That makes this an Inference question.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
The question asks about the “ideal characteristics” for a deep-well- injection area. That strongly relates to the phrase “ nder the best conditions,” which begins the second paragraph. Those conditions, the passage says, involve injecting waste into rock strata “saturated with salt water” and “separated by impermeable rock strata from aquifers.” You get a little more context from the details in the first paragraph, where the author states that the strata “saturated with salt water” is “porous and permeable.” Also, the minimum depth for waste wells is 300 meters, which is “below any aquifer.”
Step 4: Make a Prediction
So, the ideal conditions would be in porous, permeable, salt-water- saturated rock that is separated by impermeable rock strata from the aquifers above it.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(B) is correct, connecting the information from the first paragraph to the “best conditions” described in the second paragraph.
(A) is a 180. The well should be below aquifers. So, the protective layer of impermeable rock should be above the well, not below it.
(C) is a Distortion. The layer of impermeable rock should separate the well from the aquifer above it. So, it should be below the aquifer and above the well. It need not start at the surface.
(D) is a 180. The waste well should be separated from the aquifer, and it is usually at a depth of 300 meters or more, not less.
(E) is a Distortion. Wells at 1,800 meters are said to be less cost- effective, and they’re not said to be any better than wells at 300 meters.

agrasan · Answer

Hi experts  GMATNinja   MartyMurray   KarishmaB   DmitryFarber

In question-6, could you please explain why option A is correct?
  (A) more controversial because of an increased dependence on underground sources of drinking water

I looked at the line in the first para  "has become a matter of controversy as growing numbers of (20) communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water..."

It just says  "controversy"  but doesn't say  "more controversial" , how can we go ahead with option A? 
I rejected option A because the respective line doesn't tell us any proportional relationship i.e.,  more controversial  with  growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water.

DmitryFarber · Answer

There are two ways to read "has become a matter of controversy": 1) the issue was not controversial before, and now it is, or 2) the issue was always somewhat controversial, but now it's become an issue that people are openly debating.

Either way, the practice has become more controversial. After all, if it wasn't controversial  at all  before, then it is certainly more controversial now! It would be like if you had your first child: you now have more children than you did before. Also, the author mentions more than once that this method is being used more often. If its use is controversial, then we'll have more controversy as it appears in more places. We can support this answer without having to see some kind of direct proportion, in which a doubling of use of underground water leads to a doubling of controversy. All we need to know is that as people access underground water in more places, all these issues crop up and create controversy.

dhruva09 · Answer

Sajjad1994 Can you please help with the elimination of Q6 option E. I rounded to that option on the basis of the closing statement of the passage. I understood why option A is correct, but not able to disregard option E, since the below lines if considered do fit the point.

Unfortunately, as
(55) societies produce more toxic waste, industry will
rely increasingly upon this relatively cheap,
efficient means of disposal.

Unfortunately, as
(55)  societies produce more toxic waste , industry will
 rely increasingly  upon this relatively cheap,
efficient  means of disposal .

hr1212 · Answer

Hi  dhruva09 ,

My advice here is to always prioritize directly stated ideas over inferred ones in these kinds of questions. Save the deeper interpretation for questions that clearly ask you to read between the lines. As for option (E), "more widely accepted because of relatively high toxicity of wastes that are disposed of by deep-well injection," it distorts the passage in a couple of ways. First, it claims deep-well injection is widely accepted, but that’s never explicitly stated. In fact, the passage focuses on the growing controversy and risks, so just because the method is commonly used does not mean it is actually accepted. Second, there is a subtle shift in meaning around the phrase “high toxicity of wastes.” The passage mentions that the method is used because more toxic waste is being produced, but it does not say the waste being disposed of is necessarily highly toxic. It could simply be larger in quantity, not necessarily more dangerous per unit. So it is important to pay attention to exactly what is being modified in these options and not let small wording shifts change the intended meaning.

BadukMagician · Answer

I had a problem with Question 7 where I read it over and over again, but I couldn't wrap my head around what any of the words were trying to say. I eliminated C, D, E because they sounded like opposites of what the article was arguing, but reading A, and B I think I just got lazy when I was trying to differentiate between the two of them. If anyone could help me make a strategy to make sense of the word salad in A and B for Q7 I'd appreciate it.

A major problem facing industrial societies is their exponentially inc

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