V06-36, V06-37, V06-38, V06-39

Question

The Toxic Substances Control Act, enacted by the United States Congress in 1976, had an ambitious humanitarian goal: to protect people and their environment from harmful chemicals. Tens of thousands of industrial chemicals had entered the world market since the late 1940s, and the TSCA was one of the first legislative attempts to control their toxicity. Before this time, industrial chemicals were completely unregulated, and few had questioned whether any of them might ultimately prove harmful. TSCA granted the government the authority to track and regulate industrial chemicals in order to prevent harmful substances from finding their way into a wide range of consumer goods.
 
What began as an innovative caretaking program, however, failed in the ensuing decades to deliver on its promise. The failure is primarily the result of a momentous loophole in the screening guidelines of TSCA, which prioritized chemical company profits over more vital human and environmental interests. The TSCA, rather than outlining a procedure for testing older chemicals, exempted chemicals already on the market from toxicity screening and, by extension, from regulation. Consequently, over 90% of chemicals on the market today have neither been tested to determine their level of toxicity nor been studied to evaluate their impact on the environment. Even more problematic, the structure of the TSCA makes it more profitable for industry to continue manufacturing chemicals that may or may not be harmful than to develop alternative, guaranteed-safe formulas.

Which of the following sentences represents the most logical continuation of Paragraph 2 above?

A. Because of this, it is practically assured that any toxic chemical on the market before 1976 is still at large in the human population today.
B. What is more, the Environmental Protection Agency is also severely lax in its oversight function.
C. Not only this, but health researchers have also discovered an undeniable link between environmental factors and certain types of cancer.
D. In the long term, however, human populations will be better served if manufacturers will adjust the composition of their most popular chemicals.
E. Nevertheless, industrial chemical companies continue to enjoy yearly economic growth.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

The Toxic Substances Control Act, enacted by the United States Congress in 1976, had an ambitious humanitarian goal: to protect people and their environment from harmful chemicals. Tens of thousands of industrial chemicals had entered the world market since the late 1940s, and the TSCA was one of the first legislative attempts to control their toxicity. Before this time, industrial chemicals were completely unregulated, and few had questioned whether any of them might ultimately prove harmful. TSCA granted the government the authority to track and regulate industrial chemicals in order to prevent harmful substances from finding their way into a wide range of consumer goods.
 
What began as an innovative caretaking program, however, failed in the ensuing decades to deliver on its promise. The failure is primarily the result of a momentous loophole in the screening guidelines of TSCA, which prioritized chemical company profits over more vital human and environmental interests. The TSCA, rather than outlining a procedure for testing older chemicals, exempted chemicals already on the market from toxicity screening and, by extension, from regulation. Consequently, over 90% of chemicals on the market today have neither been tested to determine their level of toxicity nor been studied to evaluate their impact on the environment. Even more problematic, the structure of the TSCA makes it more profitable for industry to continue manufacturing chemicals that may or may not be harmful than to develop alternative, guaranteed-safe formulas.
  
 Which of the following sentences represents the most logical continuation of Paragraph 2 above?

A. Because of this, it is practically assured that any toxic chemical on the market before 1976 is still at large in the human population today.
B. What is more, the Environmental Protection Agency is also severely lax in its oversight function.
C. Not only this, but health researchers have also discovered an undeniable link between environmental factors and certain types of cancer.
D. In the long term, however, human populations will be better served if manufacturers will adjust the composition of their most popular chemicals.
E. Nevertheless, industrial chemical companies continue to enjoy yearly economic growth.

The answer to this question depends on determining the logical direction in which Paragraph 2 is moving, so that a  continuation  of that direction can be provided. The paragraph begins with the statement that TSCA has failed to protect humans and the environment, and the rest of the paragraph is a discussion of  how . The failure, according to the passage, is a result of a  loophole  that exempted chemicals already on the market from screening and regulation. Most chemicals on the market today fall under this category and have not been screened; additionally, the structure of the TSCA may actually discourage companies from testing their chemicals or developing safe formulas. Only sentence (A) continues this line of reasoning, because it draws a logical conclusion to the discussion of the  loophole  in TSCA: any chemical not screened in 1976 is likely still on the market.   This option correctly identifies a logical conclusion to the discussion of the  loophole  in TSCA that exempted chemicals already on the market from screening and regulation. Any chemical that was not screened when TSCA was enacted is likely still on the market. 
 The Environmental Protection Agency and its functions are not mentioned in the passage. 
 While this may be true, it does not continue the discussion in the paragraph. 
 This sentence replies only to the last sentence in the passage and not to Paragraph 2 as a whole. 
 This option pertains to industrial chemical companies, but it does not represent a continuation of the discussion in the passage.

Answer: A

adymehta29 · Answer

Hey, Bunuel.
if you were to rate the difficulty level of the questions, what would you rate them out of 800 ?
i got all of them correct.
your reply will help me to analyze whether i am getting better at the harder questions.

Thank you

Ergenekon · Answer

Nice passage. Answered all correctly.

reto · Answer

I think this is a  poor-quality  question and I don't agree with the explanation. The question is wrongly embedded in a RC passage. Please adjust.

tae808 · Answer

I think "argue" as the tone of this passage is a bit strong...

bpdulog · Answer

Which of the following sentences represents the most logical continuation of Paragraph 2 above?

Hi, how is D not correct simply because it doesn't address the paragraph as a whole? Isn't the whole idea of writing to continue and build on your ideas? Why does continuation depend on addressing the paragraph instead of the last idea mentioned in that paragraph?

AnirudhaS · Answer

For question 4, why is e not a correct choice? Can someone explain question 4 please?

PAVANKUMARR123 · Answer

I feel the author is not arguing, he is just putting his point.
Option D looks better than option C

PhantomAY · Answer

I think this is a  poor-quality  question and I don't agree with the explanation. "any toxic chemical on the market before 1976 is still at large" is an over-generalization I think. TSCA only touches the regulation side but didn't say anything about customers or manufacturers. Could it be that manufacturers stop using some toxic chemicals due to economical reasons? I just thought the extreme expression here is not supported

oneplus3hcm · Answer

I think this is a  poor-quality  question and I don't agree with the explanation. toxic chemical on the market before 1976 is still at large in the human population today.

IN HUMAN POPULATION is not correct!

ag99mba · Answer

I think this is a  high-quality  question and I don't agree with the explanation. Option A should say "most of the chemicals" instead of all

joe123x · Answer

3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about industrial chemicals already on the market when TSCA was enacted?

(a) The ones still available today are unregulated.

HUGE FALLACY, we cannot determine if they are regulated today or not, they might have been regulated and passed the regulation tests. this answer doesn't make any sense...in the question prompt, it says "the industrial chemicals" which includes all the industrial chemicals, the toxic and the nontoxic. the conclusion that the ones which are still in use today are "unregulated" is a completely inaccurate deduction!!!

krishi_22 · Answer

I think this is a  high-quality  question and I don't agree with the explanation. The passage has been clear that TSCA was unsuccessful only because it couldn't touch chemical companies that were profitable. TSCA prioritized profits and not interests of chemical companies . Since it makes it unprofitable for chemical companies to manufacture toxic chemicals , it was unsuccessful . If it made it possible for companies to be profitable even if they banned the companies from manufacturing chemical products , then it definitely would have been successful . If the option D was changed to chemical company profits rather than interests, then it would have been a correct option.

bb · Answer

Thank you for the suggestion! I will implement it. 
P.S. I feel both could options could work but profits is a stronger and more precise choice. I think the answer choices can also be reworded to be more concise, so I will update this word and a few minor tweaks.

dfchaves · Answer

I don’t quite agree with the solution. When alternative A says "human population today" it seems global population, and not USA population, as I believe it should. What does this part of the sentence actually means? How should I interpret this?

bb · Answer

Hi. “Human population” in Choice (A) simply means that these untested chemicals remain in circulation (e.g., in products, in the environment) such that people at large, not just in the United States, could still be exposed today. It’s a broader wording, but it does not invalidate the point that these chemicals were never restricted under TSCA, so they can be anywhere humans live. It is not unusual in discussions of chemical pollutants to speak in terms of the “human population” generally, because these substances often end up crossing borders.

RiyaGangar · Answer

I did not quite understand the solution. The Official answer contains"likely still" while question cover contains "still". I interpreted it as any chemical is still present i.e certainty and hence discarded that option. Can anyone help me understand how to interpret this?

arushi118 · Answer

Yes we cannot really say that all the chemicals will surely still be at large - there is a probability but we cannot say it with 100% surity.

Dream009 · Answer

I still feel answer is D

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