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655-705 (Hard)|   Inference|      
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vjsharma25
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Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of Updated on: 11 Apr 2019, 07:45
Originally posted by vjsharma25 on 12 Mar 2011, 12:01.
Last edited by nightblade354 on 11 Apr 2019, 07:45, edited 2 times in total.
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

65% (hard)

Question Stats:

56% (02:08) correct 44% (02:14) wrong based on 880 sessions

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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
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E
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gmat1220
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Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of 12 Mar 2011, 12:24
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Looks like E - disposition is at issue.
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Zatarra
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Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of 14 Mar 2011, 05:59
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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 ?
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garimavyas
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Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of 03 May 2011, 11:01
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the answer is E and took 2:01 minutes to get the answer. i need to work on the timing .
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sairam595
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Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of 15 Jun 2016, 04:04
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vjsharma25
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
Show more

Can someone explain this qstn stimulus
Such a difficult phrasing of stimulus fails me to choose correct answer. :(
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Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of 05 Mar 2017, 07:43
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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
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ISAliyaas
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Council member P: Alarmists are those who see an instance of 13 Nov 2025, 22:14
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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.
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