Comparative Passages Questions - - Question 9

Which one of the following can be most reasonably inferred from the two passages taken together, but not from either ...

BOOMshakalaka June 29, 2019

ANSWER CHOICE B

why is B correct? Where did the author state that barite can be consumed safely by humans in Passage B? I didn't find it. Thanks!

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Ravi June 29, 2019

@BOOMshakalaka,

Happy to help. Let's look at (B).

(B) says, "Although barite can be harmful to marine organisms, it can
be consumed safely by humans."

We're looking for something that can be inferred from taking both
passages together, but not from either one individually. Figuring out
which points the passages overlap on can helps us to answer this
question correctly. Barite, the heavy mineral used in drilling mud,
was one of the big overlapping points in both of the passages. Passage
B discusses how barite could be environmentally harmful, especially to
scallops (line 55). Passage A discusses barite, and details that
people who have had X-rays of their digestive tracts have probably
consumed barite (lines 16-19). Well, what can we conclude from this?
It's safe to assume that barite is probably safe for humans to
consume, but it clearly isn't for certain marine organisms (scallops).
This is precisely what (B) says. We certainly couldn't conclude this
from only looking at Passage A or Passage B, but when we combine their
contents, we can infer what (B) is saying. Thus, it's the correct
answer choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!