#8 - Must Be True, Except

[rachue]

I'm trying to understand why I got #8 wrong. I chose D, "government regulations allow drilling muds to contain 30% mineral oil." Although I see why E is correct, in D it is not explicitly said that government regulations allow drilling muds to contain that much mineral oil, just that they do (line 50). I'm guessing this means that certain things we must just assume are implied? But with this one I don't see why this implies there MUST be gov't regulation... what if it's a company regulation?

Could you clarify for this for me please?

[Dave Killoran]

Even if it were just a company regulation, unless there is the explicit mention that the company regulation is illegal, the implicit expectation is that the regulation is legal. In fact, there is reason to believe it is fully allowed by government regulations: early in Passage B, in line 35, the author states that the discharges are "tightly regulated," and later, in line 42 "under current regulations" is mentioned.

The idea being that, if the discussion is about company policies and it is in an area that is tightly regulated by the government, unless they say otherwise the assumption would be that the company operates within legal bounds (or, perhaps more properly, you can't assume that they are acting illegally).

Does that help? Please let me know.

[ay514]

Hello,

I am having a difficult time understanding why E is the correct answer choice for this question. I feel as if Lines 31-34 indicate that "drilling mud is released during the drilling phase of a well's existence." I felt that any confusion about "being released" meaning something other than the discharges is then resolved in the next sentence which says "These discharges..." I put the answer as A because I didn't feel that the passages had enough information on clay to infer that clay is an important constituent of MANY if not all drilling muds. Please help! Thank you in advance!

[Dave Killoran]

Hey,

Thanks for the question. I'd say that the justification for (A) comes from lines 12-14, where it states that "drilling muds are made of bentonite and other clays..." (italics added). That "other" indicates that bentonite is a clay, and the context of the sentence indicates that drilling muds are made of clays, thus justifying the wording in answer (A). Does that make sense?

With answer choice (A), an immediate concern is the word "continuously," which means that drilling mud is always being released into the sea during the drilling of an oil well. Based on lines 31-33, it looks like there are limitations on when the muds are released, so "continuously" is too strong. Because it is an Except question, ()E is therefore the correct answer.

Does that help? Please let me know. Thanks!

[ay514]

Yes, it makes more sense now. Thank you! But, I am still having a hard time seeing why E is wrong. I'm just stuck/confused on the fact that lines 31-33 sound like the same thing as choice E. I understand that continuously makes choice E's statement stronger so does that mean "released only during the drilling phase of a well's existence" only implies that the drilling mud is poured out in the beginning and (choice E) "during the drilling of an oil well..continuously" implies a longer period of time? I just kept coming back to choice E because "during the drilling of an oil" sounded like the same period of time as "only during the drilling phase of the well's existence." Hopefully my confusion makes sense. Thank you!

[ay514]

actually I just found the reading comp explanations for this test and it makes more sense now. Thank you again for your help!

[rachue]

Yes, that helps. Thanks!

[brcibake]

I picked C because I didn't' see any discussion of any type of study. I even looked over it again. Where is the study they are referring to?
Thank you

[Adam Tyson]

They don't have to mention a specific study, brcibake - all they have to do is suggest that such a study or studies may have been done. In other words, all we need to support answer choice C with the text of the passage is any indication that someone, sometime, has looked into the environmental impact of drilling mud discharges.

A couple lines from passage B jump out at me. First, at line 41: "It is not particularly toxic to marine organisms". How would we know that if we hadn't looked into it? Then, around line 52: "OBMs have a greater potential for negative environmental impact." Again, if nobody had studied it, even cursorily, how would we know that? Backtrack a bit to line 33, and you get this: "These discharges are the main environmental concern in offshore oil production." Why would it be a concern if nobody had studied it in any way? Finally, we have this, starting at the end of line 54: "Barite may impact some organisms, particularly scallops, and the mineral oil may have toxic effects." Sounds to me like someone probably studied this. Maybe not - these references could all just be guesses on the part of the author - but it does at least suggest that some study has been done.

We don't need a particular study, nor does that study have to be done by scientists or published in a journal. All we need to eliminate C is some support for the idea that someone may have studied this idea of drilling muds having some environmental effects. However vague it may be, we do have some support for that claim.

Answer E, however, has zero support from the passage, and in fact is directly contradicted at lines 43-46: "Companies typically recycle WBMs until their properties are no longer suitable and then, over a period of hours, dump the entire batch into the sea." Not continuous discharge, but a one-time dump. Since there is at least some circumstantial evidence for answer C, but none for E and some actually contradicting E, E must be the better answer and the credited response.

Remember, don't fight with the answers, or spend time trying to figure out why one answer or another might be acceptable or good. Instead, focus on which answer is the best answer. You might hate it, but as long as you hate it less than you hate the others, go with it. Or, in this case, you might like C, but you should like E even more. Again, go with it - the goal is to pick the best answer, not just a good one.

Good luck!

[lemonade42]

Hi, I have question about (A). I couldn't see how it there being bentonite and other clays could mean that clay is important. Isn't it possible that they are just present but not important?