Some cleaning fluids, synthetic carpets, wall paneling, and other products release toxins, such as formaldehyde and b...
mprezzyApril 2, 2020
D over C?
I didn't pick D because the passage said eliminate instead of decrease. That is why I didn't pick D or E but I knew D was closer to the right answer than E.
I picked C because the passage says, ...so well insulted that they trap toxins as well as heat. The sentence that we are to assume from states, small well insulted house. C mentions the house being warm and safe, and that is why I stuck with C. Can someone please clarify why D is the better option than C? Thank you. C & D.
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Thanks for the question! So first off, to help explain why (D) is the correct answer choice, note that the relevant part reads that “…houseplants remove some household toxins from the air and thereby eliminate their danger.” In order words, when the passage says “eliminate,” it refers specifically to the danger presented by the toxins that are removed. Obviously, if some of the toxins are removed, their level will decrease. In addition, even if the passage did read “eliminate some household toxins from the air,” the fact that those toxins were eliminated naturally implies that the level of those toxins would decrease (in this case, if they were completely eliminated, to a level of 0).
Now, there’s two reasons as to why (C) is wrong. The first has to do with the fact that the question is asking “which one of the following can be expected as a result” of placing houseplants in the house. It is true that we can expect well-insulated houses to be warm; however, we need effects that come directly from the placing of the houseplants, and the passage doesn’t tell us anything about the effect of houseplants on the household temperature. The second problem is that we’re told that the house will have a “safe air supply.” However, all the passage tells us is that the houseplants will remove some household toxins from the air. We don’t know how many houseplants are put in the house, nor how much formaldehyde is in the household air supply at the beginning. It’s completely feasible that not enough houseplants are put in, and the formaldehyde in the air supply is so high, that even though the level decreases, it won’t decrease to a safe amount. Because (D) just requires more assumptions than (C) does, (D) is not the best answer for this question.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
mprezzyApril 3, 2020
Did you mean C requires more assumptions that D? I understood everything up until that sentence.
shunheApril 5, 2020
Yes, I did, sorry about that! (C) requires more assumptions than (D), so (D) is a better answer choice.
