Combustion of gasoline in automobile

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact0% picked this

   The engines of some automobiles now on the road burn diesel fuel

   That some cars use diesel rather than gasoline is irrelevant to whether replacing gasoline with methanol would benefit public health. The argument compares gasoline and methanol; diesel cars sit outside that comparison entirely.

   0%
2. B

   No Impact1% picked this

   Several large research efforts are underway to formulate cleaner-burning types

   Research efforts to make cleaner gasoline are about a third option (improved gasoline), not about whether methanol is better than current gasoline. This neither supports the environmentalists' proposal nor the author's rebuttal.

   1%
3. C

   No Impact0% picked this

   In some regions, the local economy is largely dependent on industries devoted to the production and

   Local economic dependence on fuel industries might be a political consideration, but it doesn't address the public-health question the argument is about. The author claims the proposal lacks merit because of carcinogen production. Economic dependence doesn't speak to that claim either way.

   0%
4. D

   Correct77% picked this

   Formaldehyde is a less potent carcinogen

   Why this is right

   This is the support the environmentalists need. The author treats the gasoline-to-methanol swap as a wash because both produce carcinogens — but that only holds if both carcinogens are equally bad. (D) tells us formaldehyde (the methanol byproduct) is less potent than benzene (the gasoline byproduct). So switching to methanol substitutes a less harmful carcinogen for a more harmful one — a meaningful health gain. The proposal does have merit.

   Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   77%
5. E

   Opposite21% picked this

   Since methanol is water soluble, methanol spills are more damaging to the environment

   This actually weakens the environmentalists' proposal — methanol's greater water solubility means spills do more environmental damage. That's a reason to keep gasoline (or at least not switch to methanol), not to switch. We need an answer that supports the proposal, not one that gives an additional drawback.

   21%