Reading Comprehension

PT158 · S1 · P1 · Q6 Deep Well Injection

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A major problem facing industrial societies is their exponentially increasing production of toxic waste.

Topic

The risks and problems associated with deep-well injection as a method for hazardous waste disposal in industrial societies.

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

Although deep-well injection is increasingly used to dispose of hazardous waste due to cost and regulatory pressures, it poses significant risks—including mechanical failure, human error, and unpredictable underground movement of waste—that make it a problematic and potentially dangerous solution. Most Valuable Sentence: Last paragraph:

P1: Introduction to Deep-Well Injection and Its Controversy

This paragraph introduces the growing problem of toxic waste in industrial societies, describes how regulations and costs have led to the increased use of deep-well injection for hazardous-waste disposal, and notes that this method is controversial, especially as more people depend on underground water sources. It ends by foreshadowing that there are three key problems with this method.

P2: Mechanical Failures and Human Error

Here, the passage explains the first two major problems: wells can leak, allowing dangerous chemicals into drinking water sources, and human error (like faulty well construction) can have dire consequences. Example: a well with a casing gap almost contaminated water for 100,000 people, and such issues might go unnoticed for a long time.

P3: Unpredictable Movement of Underground Waste

This paragraph details the third problem: it’s extremely difficult to predict how wastes will move underground due to complex, variable pressure gradients. Wastewater can travel in any direction, sometimes over great distances, making containment unpredictable.

6.

According to the passage, deep-well injection of hazardous wastes has become

  1. Correct

    more controversial because of an

    Why this is right

    We were looking for a matter of controversy, as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water. This answer just opens up its thesaurus and parrots this sentence, using synonyms along the way a matter of controversy = more controversial growing #'s of = increased communities dependence rely on on

    Skill tested: Locate Detail · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    79% picked this

  2. more controversial because of an

    Wrong Cause: increased illnesses

    This is what we have to go off of. has become a matter of controversy, as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water. The cause of more controversy is identified as the increased reliance on underground water sources, not an increase in toxin-related illnesses.

    3% picked this

  3. more widely accepted because newly

    Opposite

    We were told it has become controversial, but this says it has become more widely accepted. Our supporting text: has become a matter of controversy, as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water.

    15% picked this

  4. more widely accepted because of

    Opposite

    We were told it has become controversial, but this says it has become more widely accepted. Our supporting text: has become a matter of controversy, as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water.

    1% picked this

  5. more widely accepted because of

    Opposite

    We were told it has become controversial, but this says it has become more widely accepted. Our supporting text: has become a matter of controversy, as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water.

    2% picked this

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