Sue: Commercial flights currently contribute more carbon dioxide to th

Question

Sue: Commercial flights currently contribute more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in one year than does the whole of Africa. If we want to reduce global warming we need to restrict the number of flights we take.

Dave: Did you know that by taking one inter-continental flight you cause more pollution than you would in twelve months of car travel?

Dave’s response to Sue’s comment serves to

A. reinforce Sue’s contention that flights are a major contributor to increased carbon dioxide levels

B. add more weight to her contention that we should reduce the number of flights we take

C. mitigate the force of her argument by suggesting that there is an alternative approach

D. suggest an alternative that will reduce the effect of pollution

E. question whether she really understands the severity of global warming

vards · Accepted Answer

Hello friend..! here u go..hope it helps u clear ua doubts.. :-D

OE Since Dave’s comments don’t challenge what Sue says, we can eliminate answers E and C (mitigate = lessen). His comments reinforce what she says and so A sounds tempting but is wrong since Dave talks about pollution in general and doesn’t mention carbon dioxide. Of the remaining choices, B is best since Dave does give information that suggests, like Sue, that we should take fewer flights. (D is incorrect mainly because Dave is not talking about the ‘effect’ of pollution. Note how careful you have to be that all the words in an answer are exactly right. Please consider kudos if it helped u :-D

Shalabh09 · Answer

Dave is only elaborating Sue's argument by giving a fact. He nowhere comments about reducing the number of flights one takes.

@vards : Could you please post the OE..need to know why is the option A incorrect.

Thank you.

roadrunner · Answer

Only choices A & B are strong contenders.

One of the reasons I didn't choose A is that it concludes flights are a major contributor to air pollution. The only comparison we have is between flights and whole of Africa. But we don't know if Africa is a major contributor to air pollution. Sure comparing carbon emission by flights to a continent's is promising but what if Africa only contributes say 2% to total pollution and flights contribute only 2.1%?

Choice B is my answer

abhishekdadarwal2009 · Answer

Sue: Commercial flights currently contribute more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in one year than does the whole of Africa. If we want to reduce global warming we need to restrict the number of flights we take.

Dave: Did you know that by taking one inter-continental flight you cause more pollution than you would in twelve months of car travel?

Dave’s response to Sue’s comment serves to

A. reinforce Sue’s contention that flights are a major contributor to increased carbon dioxide levels  
The point that flights are major contributor to increase carbon dioxide does not stand correct.
 B. add more weight to her contention that we should reduce the number of flights we take  
Correct answer.
 C. mitigate the force of her argument by suggesting that there is an alternative approach  
No alternate approach.
 D. suggest an alternative that will reduce the effect of pollution  
No such suggestion.
 E. question whether she really understands the severity of global warming 
No such counter argument to test her understanding.

RutujaDeshmukh19 · Answer

Let us break down the argument to understand it in a better way:

Sue : Commercial flights currently contribute more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in one year than does the whole of Africa. If we want to reduce global warming we need to restrict the number of flights we take.
 
 She is talking above the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in one year caused by the commercial flights.  
 She says that to reduce global warming, we need to restrict the number of flights we take.

Dave : Did you know that by taking one inter-continental flight you cause more pollution than you would in twelve months of car travel?
 
 Dave is asking Sue whether she is aware of the fact that by taking one inter-continental flight one causes more pollution than would be caused in 12 months of car travel.

(A) reinforce Sue’s contention that flights are a major contributor to increased carbon dioxide levels.  - Incorrect 
 
 Dave does not point to other contributors. 
 Hence, we cannot say that Dave is pointing to the contention that flights are a major contributor to increased carbon dioxide levels. 
 Also, Dave is talking about pollution overall as compared to Sue who is talking about the carbon dioxide levels only

(B) add more weight to her contention that we should reduce the number of flights we take. - Correct  
 
 Dave is agreeing with Sue that the pollution is indeed increasing. 
 As the carbon dioxide levels increase, pollution is bound to increase. 
 Thus she is adding weight to Sue’s contention that pollution is increasing along with increase in carbon dioxide levels.

(C) mitigate the force of her argument by suggesting that there is an alternative approach. - Incorrect  
 
 Dave is not suggesting an alternative approach 
 Dave is just adding more information in support of Sue's statements.

(D) suggest an alternative that will reduce the effect of pollution. - Incorrect  
 
 Dave is not suggesting any alternative.  
 Dave is just emphasizing and pointing out to the depth of the problem.

(E) question whether she really understands the severity of global warming. - Incorrect  
 
 Dave is not undermining the understanding of Sue in anyway.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Sue: Commercial flights currently contribute more carbon dioxide to th

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