aurobindo wrote:
rdg wrote:
Planners in City X noticed that many of the trees in the city were dying because of exposure to increased levels of air and water pollution. A study they commissioned revealed that sycamore trees actually thrive in environments with elevated levels of carbon monoxide, the main pollutant emitted by automobiles. In order to reverse the trend of dying trees, the city adopted a policy to replace all sick trees with sycamore trees.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the logic employed by the city planners?
A) In the forest, oak trees live an average of 70 years while sycamore trees only live for an average of 50 years.
B) Automobile manufacturers are developing newer car models that emit significantly fewer pollutants.
C) A survey by Urban Forests found that the sycamore is the most common tree in American cities.
D) The city recently installed low exhaust buses for its public transportation system.
E) Sycamore trees are extremely sensitive to sulfur dioxide, the main component of acid rain.
I would like to choose B here.
In E we are assuming that the city faces the problem of acid rain. That is no where mentioned in the argument as a possibility. E for me is irrelevant.
On the other hand, the argument says that sycamore trees actually thrive in environments with elevated levels of carbon monoxide, the main pollutant emitted by
automobiles. When
Automobile manufacturers introduce newer car models, that emit significantly fewer pollutants then sycamore trees may not thrive. And who knows, they may even die. Hence, B seems the answer to me.
I would say B is out of scope. Just because car manufacturers are building cars w/ fewer pollutants, we cannot assume that they will even be sold in City X, or that people in City X will drive these cars.
D is close, as it directly attacks carbon monoxide as the cause for thriving trees. But I dont think its strong enough, why did no one choose D, I wonder?
E does make the assumption that water pollution=acid rain, as mentioned in the stem:
trees in the city were dying because of exposure to increased levels of air and water pollution.
Test day I would have chosen E.