Free Practice Question
CR · Critical Reasoning
705-805
Resolve a Paradox
In June of 2009, the state legislature passed a series of laws designed to eliminate carbon emissions from coal-powered factories. The Environmental Protection Administration commended the state on its groundbreaking legislation, noting that these laws would go further than any other of their kind, and even the owners of several coal-powered factories expressed their appreciation of the state's care in ensuring that the laws were fair and cost-effective for industry. Yet data for the fiscal year 2012 shows that the amount of carbon emitted by coal-powered factories was actually a fraction of a percent higher in 2012 than it had been in 2009.
Which of the following, if true, best helps to explain the paradox highlighted above?
Answer Choices
Correct answer marked belowA
Some of the provisions in the legislation were scaled back due to budgetary constraints.
B
More than half the factories in the state are oil-powered plants and were not subject to the new legislation.
C
Factories subject to the law were provided with tax breaks and given up to two years to retrofit their facilities in order to ease the burden of reaching compliance with the new legislation.
In anticipation of the 2012 elections, the legislature structured the package to take effect after the elections were completed rather than risk loss of support from the coal industry.
Correct
E
Rather than invest in clean coal technology required by the legislation, several coal-powered plants converted their operations to run on oil power, removing themselves from the jurisdiction of the new laws.
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Sign in to commentWhat this question tests
What it tests
Whether you can explain an apparent contradiction in a way that makes both facts true.
Common trap
Picking an option that explains one side of the paradox while making the other side false.
Details
Difficulty
705-805
Type
CR