Hello, everyone. I came across this question earlier today and thought I would provide a full analysis for the benefit of the community. Note that we are looking for an answer that would
help support the geographer's explanation, so this is a typical strengthen question. We do not need an ironclad answer, just one that most logically strengthens the explanation.
Quote:
The country of Verovia exports millions of tons of coal each year, more than any other country in the region. However, the country also imports several hundred thousand tons of coal annually. This imported coal is of the same variety produced domestically. One geographer explained this by pointing out that while most coal is mined in the eastern part of the country, there is demand for coal in several cities on the opposite side of the country, hundreds of kilometers away.
Which of the following would, if true, most help support the geographer's explanation?
Sentence one is factual:
Verovia exports... more [coal each year] than any other country in the region.
Sentence two is also factual, but now, we are told that Verovia
imports a lot of coal each year.
Sentence three clarifies that the coal, whether imported or exported, is
of the same variety, so it is not as though Verovia is importing some sort of exotic coal. The plot thickens...
The final sentence introduces the
geographer, who explains that
most coal is mined in the eastern part of the country, but that
demand for coal in several cities exists
on the opposite side of the country, presumably the
western part,
hundreds of kilometers away. If this is to explain why the largest coal-exporting country in the region would also need to import the same type of coal, we need to find a compelling reason behind this
what.
Quote:
A. Verovia's mountainous interior is impassible for most of the year.
Blink, and you might miss
interior, or, in other words, the
middle part of the country. If eastern and western Verovia are separated by
impassible mountains
for most of the year, then it makes sense that the east would ship out coal while the west, which might not produce enough coal to meet its needs, would bring some in from other countries. Perhaps this is a more viable or economic solution than waiting for the mountains to become passable again to send coal
hundreds of kilometers from eastern to western Verovia. Finally, notice how fitting it is that a
geographer offered the explanation in the passage. A geographer would most likely be knowledgeable about the major geographic features of a country. If you like to be cautious, just hold on to this one while you assess the other options.
Quote:
B. Gorosco, the third-largest coal producer in the region, borders Verovia to the west.
The most dissatisfying part of this answer choice, to me, is the appositive in the middle. If Verovia is
the largest
coal producer in the region, then why would it need to turn to the
third-largest producer for coal? Simply because it
borders Verovia to the west? That is a tenuous connection at best. Where is the second-largest coal-producing country in the region? For all we know, it lies to the northwest or southwest of Verovia and also shares a border. In short, there is no compelling reason to
assume that just because Gorosco happens to produce coal and also happens to lie west of Verovia, western Vorovia has turned its attention outward to meet its demand for coal.
Quote:
C. Verovia has an extensive electric power system that depends entirely on coal power.
No attention whatsoever is given to
western Verovia or any other part of the country, and that is a real problem. We want to support the explanation behind the idea that, despite its apparent wealth in coal, Verovia would still find it desirable or necessary to import the resource. This information provides a blanket statement on all of Verovia and does not connect with the explanation the geographer provided.
Quote:
D. Ojondo, Verovia's neighbor to the south, consumes more than half of Verovia's exports.
How greedy of Ojondo, you might think. But the fact remains that, regardless of where Verovia exports its coal, the resource is still being culled and presumably exported from the eastern part of the country while the
opposite side of the country is in want. If this is even tempting for you, consider that
more than half could refer to, say, 50.1 percent of exports, and that some other country, perhaps one to the north, could consume all of the remaining 49.9 percent of Verovian coal. Would Ojondo really make that much more of a difference? Again, this has nothing to do with the explanation the geographer provided, so we cannot call such a consideration a strengthener.
Quote:
E. Verovia's public transportation system uses other forms of energy besides coal.
No part of this fits. First, we get a cover-all statement on Verovia, not on any particular area within the country, so this apparently country-wide system of transit could affect all areas equally; then, it does not even use coal, the resource that the geographer was discussing. This answer choice might as well tell us that Verovians own more cats than dogs or tend to live longer than their neighbors in Ojondo or Gorosco. The word
irrelevant comes to mind.
There you have it. If you narrowed the options down to (A) and (B), you were on the right track. If you selected (B), you have to learn to approach these CR questions the way a lawyer would look to dismantle information. Any target you can find, you want to mark as a doubt, and (B) ultimately leaves much to be desired, for reasons discussed above.
As always, good luck with your studies.
- Andrew
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close
08 May 2022, 02:56
25%
(medium)
27%
(01:59)
wrong 
