The level of industrial pollutants in the water bodies of the state

Question

The level of industrial pollutants in the water bodies of the state has fallen by an average of 20% in the last five years. While the ruling party takes the credit for it, attributing it to the Clean Water Act passed five years ago, the opposition attributes it to the recession suffered in the past few years, which resulted in the closure of 10% of the business and unemployment in the industrial sector rising by 15%. It is probable that the business decline, rather than the regulation in the act, is responsible for at least half of the decline in the pollution.

Which of the following is an assumption made in the passage above?
 
A. The amount of water pollution in a given area is proportional to the number of business and workers active in that area. 
 
B. Industrial activity alone is responsible for all the pollution in water bodies. 
 
C. Most businesses in the state have obeyed the regulations embodied in the Clean Water Act. 
 
D. The Clean Water Act has succeeded only marginally in reducing the pollution in water bodies. 
 
E. The recession in the state is due, at least in part, to the effects of the Clean Water Act.

deepverma · Answer

Conclusion:probablly business decline(10%), rather than the regulation in the act, is responsible for at least half of the decline in the pollution(which is around 20%)

Premise: closure of business by 10%, clear-water Act came in 5 years ago.
Prethink:There isnt any relation given bw business decline and pollution decline. So assuming such relation

A is correct.
B is helping but not helping to arrive at nos.very general/broad.
C is weakning 
D is helping-partially but there can be other reasons too, so this option is not necessary to arrive to conclusion.
E weakning

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Abhi077 · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

There has been a decline in industrial pollution in the water bodies. The ruling party attributes it to the Act passed by it. the opposition attributes it to the recent recession experience.

The conclusion is that at hast hall of the reduction in pollution is likely to be due to the closure of some industries, The assumption in this conclusion is that the pollution in the water bodies is proportional to the number of businesses in the region

Choice B is incorrect since the passage talks of only industrial pollution not others.

Choice C is not the assumption since the decline in pollution is attributed at least partly
to closure of businesses.

Choice D is not assumed and choice E does not make sense

Choice (A) is the correct answer

honey1 · Answer

The level of industrial pollutants in the water bodies of the state has fallen by an average of 20% in the last five years. While the ruling party takes the credit for it, attributing it to the Clean Water Act passed five years ago, the opposition attributes it to the recession suffered in the past few years, which resulted in the closure of 10% of the business and unemployment in the industrial sector rising by 15%. It is probable that the business decline, rather than the regulation in the act, is responsible for at least half of the decline in the pollution.

Which of the following is an assumption made in the passage above?

A. The amount of water pollution in a given area is proportional to the number of business and workers active in that area.

B. Industrial activity alone is responsible for all the pollution in water bodies.

C. Most businesses in the state have obeyed the regulations embodied in the Clean Water Act.

D. The Clean Water Act has succeeded only marginally in reducing the pollution in water bodies.

E. The recession in the state is due, at least in part, to the effects of the Clean Water Act.
plz help me with this question
How can option A is correct is it necessary to have ''water pollution in a given area is proportional to the number of business and workers active in that area'' to make our conclusion valid . If we negate it how do it shatters our conclusion.
THANK YOU

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  honey1 . If you tuck in a  not  between  is proportional  in the answer choice, then you should be able to see that it does, in fact, derail the argument. Look at the argument again, filling in the supporting numerical information as necessary:

It is  probable  that the business decline— which resulted in the closure of 10% of the business   and unemployment in the industrial sector rising by 15% —rather than the regulation in the act, is responsible for at least half of the decline in the pollution.

If the 10 percent decline in the number of industrial businesses and the 15 percent rise in industrial sector unemployment  cannot  be equated somehow to the 20 percent decline in the  level of industrial pollutants in the water bodies , then there would be no grounds for making such an argument as the one above. That is why I underlined the word  probable  above. Moreover, if you examine the other answer choices, you should appreciate that none of them, with or without negation, will have any bearing on the argument presented. If you feel differently, I will hear you out.

I hope that helps. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

VerbalBot · Answer

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The level of industrial pollutants in the water bodies of the state

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The level of industrial pollutants in the water bodies of the state

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