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Hi,
I can't understand properly why the answer is B. The paragraph talks about expansion while the answer talks about maintenance. Wouldn't it be possible that the old landfill would've been maintained even though new landfills were formed?
I got stuck between B and D and I removed B eventually.
Please tell me where I am wrong. Any explanation is helpful. Thank you.

B needs further assumption: Build new landfill will leave current landfill without continued operation and maintenance.
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Ecological studies have shown that the current landfill that serves Sturgeon County is responsible for the vast majority of the county's groundwater pollution problem. Surprisingly, however, Sturgeon County's leading environmentalists support a ballot initiative that will invest in the expansion of the current landfill, as opposed to another initiative that will invest the same amount of money in creating a new landfill that would have zero impact on the county's groundwater.

Which of the following, if true, serves as the best justification for the environmentalists' position?

A)Several recent ecological studies suggest that the rate of pollution from the current landfill is lower than had initially been reported. -We need comparison between new land fill and old land fill.
B)Without continued operation and maintenance, the current landfill's groundwater pollution rate would more than double. -Correct
C)Groundwater pollution is less of a concern in Sturgeon County than is air pollution from the county's coal-fired power plants. -Air pollution is out of scope
D)Polling data indicates that the new landfill proposal is unlikely to pass without support from prominent environmental activists. -Out of scope
E)The site of the proposed new landfill is privately-owned land that the county would have to purchase during a period of high real estate values. -Cost is out of scope
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Ecological studies have shown that the current landfill that serves Sturgeon County is responsible for the vast majority of the county's groundwater pollution problem. Surprisingly, however, Sturgeon County's leading environmentalists support a ballot initiative that will invest in the expansion of the current landfill, as opposed to another initiative that will invest the same amount of money in creating a new landfill that would have zero impact on the county's groundwater.

Which of the following, if true, serves as the best justification for the environmentalists' position?


A) Several recent ecological studies suggest that the rate of pollution from the current landfill is lower than had initially been reported.
B) Without continued operation and maintenance, the current landfill's groundwater pollution rate would more than double.
C) Groundwater pollution is less of a concern in Sturgeon County than is air pollution from the county's coal-fired power plants.
D) Polling data indicates that the new landfill proposal is unlikely to pass without support from prominent environmental activists.
E) The site of the proposed new landfill is privately-owned land that the county would have to purchase during a period of high real estate values.

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:




Your goal in this "Explain the Paradox" question is to find a reason why environmentalists would support the expansion of a landfill that comes with groundwater pollution problems over the construction of a new landfill that would come with no groundwater pollution problems. As you anticipate what you would want to see from a correct answer, you might think about:

-What if the new landfill doesn't have groundwater pollution problems, but instead creates other pollution problems?

-What is leaving the old landfill would create even bigger problems than staying there?

Choice B works well with the second option: if leaving the current landfill would create a much bigger environmental problem than staying there would, that is a reason that those who care about the environment would vote to stay. Choice B is correct.

Choices A and C may be tempting, but each comes with a significant flaw. Note that A, while reducing the impact of the pollution problem with the current landfill, still leaves the ballot proposals as a comparison between "some pollution" and "no pollution," so you still don't have a reason that the environmentalists would pick "some" when "none" is an option. And while choice C may seem to hit the standard of "what about other types of pollution other than just groundwater?" note that the argument doesn't provide any reason to suspect that the new landfill would create more air pollution. With all known information, it's still a comparison between "some pollution" and "no pollution."

Choice D is irrelevant - what the polls suggest is no reason for the environmentalists to choose pollution over no pollution. And choice E is carefully invalidated by the phrase "same amount" in the argument - if each plan costs the same amount, then the expense of the land for the new landfill isn't a reason to not choose it.
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Sturgeon county: Studies show that the current landfill is responsible for the vast majority of the county's groundwater pollution problem.
Now there are two ways to deal with this:
1. Invest in the expansion of the current landfill
2. Invest the same amount of money in creating a new landfill that would have zero impact on groundwater
Leading environmentalists support proposal 1.
Gaps: Maybe proposal 1 is better than proposal 2
Maybe if proposal 1 is not implemented it would have worst impact on groundwater

(A) Several recent ecological studies suggest that the rate of pollution from the current landfill is lower than had initially been reported. So what the other proposal has zero impact.

(B) Without continued operation and maintenance, the current landfill's groundwater pollution rate would more than double. aah that's the deal if proposal 1 is not implemented it would lead to further degradation of groundwater.

(C) Groundwater pollution is less of a concern in Sturgeon County than is air pollution from the county's coal-fired power plants. Irrelevant

(D) Polling data indicates that the new landfill proposal is unlikely to pass without support from prominent environmental activists. Does not help with the reasoning as to why environmentalists chose proposal 1

(E) The site of the proposed new landfill is privately-owned land that the county would have to purchase during a period of high real estate values. Could have been an answer if both the proposals do not require equal amount.
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Is this question a legit one ? MartyMurray KarishmaB
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Is this question a legit one ? MartyMurray KarishmaB

Yes, it looks fine. After all we are talking about a landfill. If we are not continuously using it, why would there be maintenance? So environmentalists could be voting to continue using the current landfill instead of moving to a new place.
Think about it as a real world dilemma - keep dumping at site A and keep it active or start dumping at site B and nothing is to be gained by continuing maintenance of site A - what would the environmentalists prefer? If site A needs maintenance to minimize pollution, they would prefer to continue with site A.
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