ExplanationMorowa: As a general rule, those responsible for harming the environment should be responsible for fixing it. Thus, businesses should pay for and clean up environmental problems they cause.
Thema: Are the businesses the only ones responsible? Oftentimes, consumers drive businesses to produce products in environmentally damaging ways by primarily purchasing inexpensive items that disproportionally result in greater environmental harm.We see that Morowa concludes the following:
businesses should pay for and clean up environmental problems they causeMorowa supports her conclusion with one premise, which is a "rule" or principle:
As a general rule, those responsible for harming the environment should be responsible for fixing it.Then, Thema brings up the issue that consumers can share responsibility for environmental problems caused by the activities of businesses.
We see that the implications of what Thema brings up are that Morowa's conclusion may not be correct in that it may not make sense to have businesses handle environmental problems if "those responsible for harming the environment should be responsible for fixing it" since consumers are often responsible too.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for Morowa's argument in light of Thema's reply?The correct anwer will show that Morowa's conclusion makes sense in the context of what Thema has brought up.
A) Consumers of such products know that they are responsible for harming the environment.The fact that consumers of harmful products know they are harming the environment makes consumers even more clearly responsible for the environmental harm they cause.
A fact that makes consumers more clearly responsible doesn't support the conclusion that businesses should pay for and clean up environmental problems.
Eliminate.
B) At least some consumers purchase products that they know are environmentally friendly.This fact about consumers purchasing products that "are environmentally friendly" does not indicate that businesses should be the ones to pay for and clean up environmental problems.
If anything, this choice shows that consumers could avoid causing environmental problems and thus helps to confirm that consumers who purchase harmful products are at least partially responsible for the harm caused.
Eliminate.
C) Most consumers purchase at least some products that do not substantially harm the environment.The fact that consumers purchase at least some products that do not substantially harm the environment doesn't mean that consumers are not responsible for the harm done by products they purchase that do harm the environment.
So, this choice may have the vibe of taking the responsibility for environmental harm off consumers and placing it all on businesses, but it doesn't really.
Eliminate.
D) Being inexpensive does not necessarily result in environmental harm.The fact that not all inexpensive products cause environmental harm doesn't change the fact that consumers often do cause environmental harm by purchasing inexpensive products.
So, this choice may have the vibe of taking the responsibility for environmental harm off consumers and placing it all on businesses, but it doesn't really.
Eliminate.
E) Having businesses pay for and clean up their environmental problems can pass along some of the cost to consumers.Let's review the principle that Morowa uses to support her conclusion:
As a general rule, those responsible for harming the environment should be responsible for fixing it.Her reasoning is that businesses should pay for and clean up environmental problems because they cause harm to the enviroment and those responsible for harm to the environment should be responsible for fixing it.
Now, given what this choice says, we see that, if businesses pay for and clean up environmental problems, consumers will
also be responsible for fixing the environment because businesses will pass along some of the cost to consumers.
Thus, this choice addresses the issue that Thema brought up by showing that, even if consumers share responsibility for the environmental harm, Morowa's conclusion is valid because her rule, "those responsible for harming the environment should be responsible for fixing it," will be followed since consumers will indirectly pay for and clean up the problems since businesses pass along the cost.
Correct answer: E