The emission of sulfur dioxide when high-sulfur coal is burned is restricted by law. New coal-burning plants usually comply with the law by installing expensive equipment to filter sulfur dioxide from their emissions. These new plants could save money by installing instead less expensive cleaning equipment that chemically removes most sulfur from coal before combustion.

Which of the following, if known, would be most relevant to evaluating the claim above about how new coal-burning plants could save money?


Whether existing oil-burning plants are required to filter sulfur dioxide from their emissions

Whether the expense of installing the cleaning equipment in a new plant is less than the expense of installing the cleaning equipment in an older plant

Whether the process of cleaning the coal is more expensive than the process of filtering the emissions

Whether lawful emissions of sulfur dioxide from coal-burning plants are damaging the environment

Whether existing plants that use the filtering equipment could replace this equipment with the cleaning equipment and still compete with new plants that install the cleaning equipment

考题讲解

情景:为了治理环境污染,政府决定减排。现在呢,一个公司决定用化学办法来减少硫化物排放来省减排的成本。

推理:推理文段的结论句是完整的方案和目标,并且问题要求我们评估这个方案,因此,推理文段是方案推理。 
目标:To save money
方案:Installing instead less expensive cleaning equipment that chemically removes most sulfur from coal before combustion

选题方式:方案推理有三个评估方向,简而言之,即,答案选项一定和方案的内容相关。

选项分析:

A选项:现在已经存在的燃油厂是不是也需要安装硫化物过滤器?方案描述的烧煤厂用化学方式来过滤,和燃油厂没有联系,所以本选项没有提及方案。

B选项:在新烧煤厂安装清洁器材是不是比在旧烧煤厂安装过滤器材便宜?推理文段中的方案和目标是关于以新的方式过滤是否会省钱,而本选项对比的两者是同样方式下新旧厂子谁便宜谁贵。

C选项: Correct. 化学处理过程的花费是不是比物理处理的花费要高?如果化学处理过程花费高,那么有可能该方案虽然安装成本低,但是后期花费高,不能满足目标to save money,所以属于CQ1:方案的可行性问题

D选项:
法律允许的硫化物排放量是否也会污染环境?本选项没有提及方案。

E选项:
已经存在的厂子是不是也能装上新的过滤器(化学方式的)以便于和装新的过滤器的新厂继续竞争?无论老厂怎么样,都不会影响新的过滤方案的三个CQ方面的问题,所以不是答案。

展开显示

登录注册 后可以参加讨论

Prep2008E2-CR

考点