Logical Reasoning

PT144 · S3 · Q11 Activist: Accidents at the Three Mile Island

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Activist: Accidents at the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear plants have shown the dangers of nuclear power.

Activist's Hope (therefore)

We can dispense altogether with nuclear power and that we can meet our energy needs in a way that better protects the environment from harm than we presently do.

Reason for Activist's Hope

We have alternative sources of energy like solar, wind, hydroelectric, and new sludge-power!

Evaluate / Goal

The question stem is pretty dense and unusual. Four wrong answers will offer something relevant, when it comes to assessing this "hope" that we can get rid of nuclear power and meet all our energy needs using solar, wind, hydro, and sludge.

Since we're not being asked to judge an argument (just the practicability of a certain hope), we probably don't need to spend any energy looking for assumptions or objections.

Let's just get rid of four answers that "do the job" ... they raise some issue that could lead to us saying "It's not practical to get rid of nuclear and to rely instead on solar, wind, hydro, and sludge.

11.

Which one of the following considerations is LEAST relevant in evaluating the degree of practicability of the hope expressed by the activist above?

  1. whether the current methods of

    Relevant

    If the current methods of disposing of sewage sludge by dumping do a lot of environmental damage, then taking that sludge and using it for deriving oil (rather than just dumping it somewhere) should be a net win for the environment. It sounds like we'd be "meeting our energy needs in a way that better protects the environment from harm than we do at present".

    8% picked this

  2. Correct

    whether the processes that are

    Why this is right

    Here, whether we say the processes have been improved in recent decades or haven't (i.e. they're the same as they were 20-30 years go), it makes no difference. The process that takes sewage and separates it out into clean water and sewage sludge doesn't really have anything to do with the activist's hope. If it's been improved, that doesn't necessarily mean anything good for the environment. If it's the same as it's been for decades, that doesn't mean anything. The new thing being discussed is the idea of taking that sewage sludge, once it's been separated from the clean water in sewage, and then deriving an oil from it that can generate power. This answer has nothing to do with our new idea for what we do with sewage sludge. It's only talking about the process that leads to us getting sewage sludge in the first place.

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

    71% picked this

  3. whether the cost of producing

    Relevant

    It wouldn't be very practical to use sewage sludge as an energy source if the cost of producing and using oil from sewage sludge is not economically sustainable.

    15% picked this

  4. whether the burning of oil

    Relevant

    Ceasing nuclear power and starting to use sewage sludge power might not be a net gain for protecting the environment from harm if sewage sludge led to harmful global warming gases, whereas the nuclear power didn't.

    2% picked this

  5. whether waste products that would

    Relevant

    Ceasing nuclear power and starting to use sewage sludge power might not be a net gain for protecting the environment from harm if sewage sludge led to waste products that are just as dangerous as those nuclear power created.

    3% picked this

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