Environmentalist: Discarding old appliances

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: recycled1% picked this

   Old fluorescent bulbs should be

   The concept of "recycling" old fluorescent bulbs was never discussed. It's hard to support the idea that we should do that, when we don't even know if it's an option. Furthermore, we have reason to think that we have a viable way to deal with old fluorescent bulbs if we put them in a properly operated landfill, where the mercury in them poses no threat.

   1%
2. B

   Correct80% picked this

   Appliances containing heavy metals should not

   Why this is right

   This ends up being our most supportable answer, even though it's surprisingly adrift from language offered in the stimulus. The idea of "should" was never discussed. But it's pretty common sense to think that "we should not do things that result in bad things". We're told that incinerating appliances with heavy metals would cause heavy metals to escape into the air. We know we don't want to breathe in lead and mercury, so if incinerating an appliance would lead to that, then it's pretty reasonable to say, "We should not do that". It's easier to support that we shouldn't do this thing the paragraph told us had bad consequences than it is to support (A) which is saying we should do something we weren't told anything about.

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

   80%
3. C

   Out of Scope: atmosphere10% picked this

   Chlorofluorocarbons are harmful to the

   This is a mean outside knowledge trap. Yes, CFC's are really harmful to the atmosphere. Some of us may have even read the RC passage about the way they destroy the ozone layer. But there's no support within this paragraph of the idea that CFC's are harmful to the atmosphere.

   10%
4. D

   Out of Scope0% picked this

   Newer appliances are more dangerous to the environment than

   Out of Scope: newer appliances Opposite, if anything The passage only addresses older appliances and does so in order to tell us about the dangers they pose. So not only have we heard nothing about newer appliances, but the information we have so far sounds like older appliances are scary.

   0%
5. E

   Too Strong: no appliances in landfills8% picked this

   Appliances should be kept out of

   This sort of goes starkly against the 2nd sentence, which tells us that when landfills are operated properly, the materials found in appliances pose no threat.

   8%