Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of

Question

Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of pollution and exaggerate its significance into a major character fault of society. Such alarmists fail to distinguish the incident and the behavior that caused it from the disposition of people not to pollute.

Council member Q: To think that there is a lot of pollution based on the discovery of a serious single instance of pollution is simply an application of the widely accepted principle that actions tend to follow the path of least resistance, and it is surely easier to pollute than not to pollute.

Council members P and Q disagree over whether

(A) pollution should be considered a problem
(B) actions tend to follow the path of least resistance
(C) people are responsible for pollution
(D) people can change their behavior and not pollute
(E) people are inclined to pollute

gmat1220 · Answer

Looks like E - disposition is at issue.

Zatarra · Answer

Councillor A says: The entire society cant be at fault because of 1 instance of pollution. Just as a few people tend to pollute ,so too some people tend not to pollute.
Councillor B says : It can be said that there is a lot of pollution because of 1 instance , because its easire for people to pollute
Can someone confirm my interpretation ?

sairam595 · Answer

Can someone explain this qstn stimulus Such a difficult phrasing of stimulus fails me to choose correct answer.

warriorguy · Answer

P says that People do pollute. Q does not contest this fact and hence C is out.

Also, Q does not state anything to change the behaviour of the people so D is out. Instead, Q discusses why people are inclined to pollute.

Hence E

ISAliyaas · Answer

Paraphrasing the stimulus:
- P: One instance ≠ societal fault. Some people pollute, others do not. Don't overgeneralize.
- Q: Even a single major example suggests society’s tendency to pollute—it’s the “easy” path.

Core disagreement:-
- The two are actually disagreeing about whether people are generally inclined to pollute—whether this is a broad disposition or not.

P says: A single incident doesn't mean most people are inclined to pollute.
Q says: If it’s easier to pollute (path of least resistance), that’s probably what people do.

Eliminate options:
A. Pollution as a problem
Both discuss pollution, but not whether it should be considered a problem.
B. Actions follow least resistance
Only Q asserts this directly; P doesn’t.
C. People responsible for pollution
Both seem to accept that people can pollute; not the point of contention.
D. People can change behavior (“not pollute”)
Neither addresses whether behavior can be changed.
E. People are inclined to pollute
 This is where the CRux lies! P disputes general inclination; Q supports it .

ISAliyaas · Answer

Can someone help to keep the CR under 2.5 minutes, I am unable to do so sometimes like in this one it took 3.2 mins

guddo · Answer

Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of pollution and exaggerate its significance into a major character fault of society. Such alarmists fail to distinguish the incident and the behavior that caused it from the disposition of people not to pollute.
 
 Council member Q: To think that there is a lot of pollution based on the discovery of a serious single instance of pollution is simply an application of the widely accepted principle that actions tend to follow the path of least resistance, and it is surely easier to pollute than not to pollute.
 
 Council members P and Q disagree over whether

P says one pollution incident should not be taken as evidence of a broad tendency in people to pollute. Q says one serious pollution incident can support the idea that pollution is common, because it is easier to pollute than not to pollute.  So the disagreement  is about whether people are generally  inclined to pollute .

(A) pollution should be considered a problem

This is not the issue. Both speakers treat pollution as bad. They disagree about what one instance of pollution shows.

(B) actions tend to follow the path of least resistance

This is not clearly disputed. Q accepts this principle, but P does not directly deny it.

(C) people are responsible for pollution

This is not the main issue. P refers to “the behavior that caused it,” so P does not deny that people can cause pollution.

(D) people can change their behavior and not pollute

This is not discussed. The issue is not whether people can change, but whether people are generally disposed to pollute.

(E) people are inclined to pollute

This is correct. P denies that a pollution incident proves a general disposition to pollute. Q argues that because polluting is easier, one serious instance can reasonably suggest that pollution is widespread.

Answer: (E)

Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards