Since pollution-causing human activities can cause an

I will go with A here.

Scientists' Argument: Mild temperatures were caused by replacement of commercial areas with industrial areas

According to A,

Vehicle pollution < Commercial Pollution < Industrial Pollution =>

From scientists' argument, Industrial activity is increasing. Hence the industrial pollution has a greater effect on the temperature.

Crick

I think E is the answer.

Conclusion: Commercials, rather than vehicle emission, is the culprit behind the recent mild winter.
A. Although commercial property areas tend to emit significantly less pollution than industrial areas, they still emit more than the vehicles in the area on a given day.
=> commercial have more influence on the changing weather pattern but both commercials and vehicle emission may cause the mild winter so A weakens the argument somehow :D
B.Most of the people who work in commercial areas drive to work each day. => cannot conclude commercials support the arg (if any, it even weaken the arg since more cars ,more emission)
C.New strict laws in the area require buildings in the industrial areas to reduce their emissions by 60% in the next 5 years. the winter is now not in 5 years
D. Vehicle exhaust is comprised largely of carbon monoxide, the same pollutant emitted by the industrial areas.not strengthen
E. In response to consumer demand, exhaust levels per vehicle have steadily decreased in recent years. the correct answer. exhaust levels decrease so it may deny the possibility of alternative cause and hence support the main cause (commercials)

A

The researchers compare commercial and industrial areas, A is the only answer that features both of them (and compares the pollution level as well)

hm, between A and E ))
but A seems better , because of these words-

Although commercial property areas tend to emit significantly less pollution than industrial areas, they still emit more than the vehicles in the area on a given day. this means that

imho, the main problem of the answer choice E is that it doesnt show us the difference between vehicle pollution rate and commercial pollution rate.
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I will go with A here..whtz d OA?

I will go with E.

Here the need is to strengthen scientists' argu,who believe that more the industrial area and less commercial more will be the pollution as vehicles have already lessen the exhaust levels the culprit has to be the industrial area

here we need to find something that confirm and strenghtens the conclusion. an high rate..........

A for sure
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A from my side.

bschool83 - whats OA?
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bschool83:
I couldn't find this question in 1000 series. Could you please post the OA?

Or anyone who has seen this question before, could you please post the correct source of the question and OA.

IMO:
Ans: "A"

As nicely explained by Crick:
Pollution by Vehicles < Pollution by Commercial < Pollution by industrial areas.

If we assume Pollution by Vehicles to be constant,
Pollution by Vehicles + Pollution by Commercial < Pollution by Vehicles + Pollution by Industrial Areas

However, if we grade these components as:
Pollution by Vehicles in Commercial Area=100
Pollution by Commercial Area=200
Pollution by Vehicles in Industrial Area=0
Pollution by Industrial Area=250

The above expression fails. So, it all depends on the comparison between inflow of the vehicles between those two areas.

"E" gives a fact that's tempting but it is not good enough for comparison. What if the industries are not emitting pollution at all and the vehicles, despite lowered vehicular exhaust, is contributing to the pollution.

"D" can be ruled out because the volume of gas emitted is not shown. Both emits CO, agree, but what if industries are emitting 1 tonne of CO and the vehicles are emitting 10 tonnes of CO. Moreover, we don't even know what gases are actually in question. It may very well be SO2 that's the prime measuring factor for pollution.

Give and take, A sounds the best because changing a commercial area to an industrial area won't significantly change the number of vehicles in the area or the gas emitted by those vehicles.

A) Although commercial property areas tend to emit significantly less pollution than industrial areas, they still emit more than the vehicles in the area on a given day. STRENGTHEN
B) Most of the people who work in commercial areas drive to work each day. WEAKEN
C) New strict laws in the area require buildings in the industrial areas to reduce their emissions by 60% in the next 5 years. IRRELEVANT
D) Vehicle exhaust is comprised largely of carbon monoxide, the same pollutant emitted by the industrial areas. OUT OF SCOPE
E) In response to consumer demand, exhaust levels per vehicle have steadily decreased in recent years. OUT OF SCOPE

+1 forA..Although D tempted me..But as 'fluke' as put, it does not show the amount of pollutants emitted by either group..

I don't agree with others that A is the answer. Or lets say the sole answer.

A - vehicles < commercial < industrial
Ok, this does imply that industrial pollutants are more than vehicles. But, it wouldn't support the fact of the conversion of the properties. Also, it talks about pollution, not exhaust.

D - talks about exhaust, but yes, doesn't talk about the amount of pollution created.

So, could it be that correct answer is A and D?

If I have to choose just one option, I 'll go with D.

B) Most of the people who work in commercial areas drive to work each day. - to some extent weakens the conclusion
C) New strict laws in the area require buildings in the industrial areas to reduce their emissions by 60% in the next 5 years. - Irrelevant
D) Vehicle exhaust is comprised largely of carbon monoxide, the same pollutant emitted by the industrial areas. Out of scope
E) In response to consumer demand, exhaust levels per vehicle have steadily decreased in recent years. The reduced level can emit more pollution than the industrial areas.
A) Although commercial property areas tend to emit significantly less pollution than industrial areas, they still emit more than the vehicles in the area on a given day. This clearly states that the pollution from commercial property is more than that of the vehicles and thus strengthens the conclusion

How can E be the answer. It is clearly stated that mild winters are the result of vehicle exhausts. Option A says nothing about vehicle exhausts. Answer should be E.

The CREDITED RESPONSE for this question is A.

And the Source is Kaplan !

Since pollution-causing human activities can cause an increase in average global temperatures,
Ass1: vehicle exhaust is a human activity and increase in global temp causes mild winters

the mild winters in the area could be a result of the high concentration of vehicle exhaust emitted in the region.

However, some scientists argue that the mild winters are a result of the increased rate of conversion of commercial areas to industrial areas.

Which of the following, if true, strengthens the scientists' argument?

A) Althoughcommercial property areas tend to emit significantly less pollution than industrial areas, they still emit more than the vehicles in the area on a given day.
This strengthens the conclusion.

B) Most of the people who work in commercial areas drive to work each day.
They are getting converted and we do not know what is the scenario in new atmosphere.

C) New strict laws in the area require buildings in the industrial areas to reduce their emissions by 60% in the next 5 years.
future plans cannot help us now.

D) Vehicle exhaust is comprised largely of carbon monoxide, the same pollutant emitted by the industrial areas.
what exhaust consists of completely out of scope.

E) In response to consumer demand, exhaust levels per vehicle have steadily decreased in recent years.
one more out of scope scenario.

I fell for the trap and marked E. Nice question !
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Although commercial property areas tend to emit significantly less pollution than industrial areas, they still emit more than the vehicles in the area on a given day.

what does they refer to here ? commercial property areas or industrial areas?

Hi can anyone please explain this question in a better way?? GMATNinja can you share your views?