The Clean Air Act of 1970 fundamentally transformed environmental practices across American industries. In the decade following its passage, sulfur...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The Clean Air Act of 1970 fundamentally transformed environmental practices across American industries. In the decade following its passage, sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants dropped by 35%, while particulate matter in urban areas decreased by nearly 60%. These improvements directly contributed to measurable health benefits: childhood asthma rates declined in major metropolitan areas, and respiratory-related hospital admissions fell by 15% nationally. The legislation's stringent compliance deadlines and hefty financial penalties motivated rapid technological innovation, spurring the development of scrubber systems and catalytic converters that became standard industry equipment.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
To demonstrate the specific environmental and health improvements that resulted from Clean Air Act implementation
To argue that financial penalties were the most effective mechanism for ensuring Clean Air Act compliance
To compare the environmental challenges faced by different types of industries under the Clean Air Act
To provide an overview of the technological innovations that were available before the Clean Air Act's passage
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'The Clean Air Act of 1970 fundamentally transformed environmental practices across American industries.' |
|
| 'In the decade following its passage, sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants dropped by 35%, while particulate matter in urban areas decreased by nearly 60%.' |
|
| 'These improvements directly contributed to measurable health benefits: childhood asthma rates declined in major metropolitan areas, and respiratory-related hospital admissions fell by 15% nationally.' |
|
| 'The legislation's stringent compliance deadlines and hefty financial penalties motivated rapid technological innovation, spurring the development of scrubber systems and catalytic converters that became standard industry equipment.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The Clean Air Act of 1970 produced significant, measurable environmental and health improvements across the United States.
Argument Flow: The passage begins by establishing the transformative nature of the Clean Air Act, then presents specific environmental data showing emissions reductions, connects these environmental gains to concrete health benefits, and finally explains how the legislation's enforcement mechanisms drove the technological innovation that made these improvements possible.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The right answer should identify that the passage's main goal is to show the specific improvements and benefits that resulted from the Clean Air Act implementation
- The passage focuses on showcasing positive outcomes with both environmental data (emissions reductions) and health data (asthma rates, hospital admissions) as evidence of success
To demonstrate the specific environmental and health improvements that resulted from Clean Air Act implementation
✓ Correct
- This matches perfectly with our analysis
- The passage demonstrates specific environmental improvements (\(35\%\) SO2 reduction, \(60\%\) particulate reduction) and health improvements (asthma decline, \(15\%\) reduction in hospital admissions)
- This captures the main thrust of showing concrete, measurable benefits from the legislation
To argue that financial penalties were the most effective mechanism for ensuring Clean Air Act compliance
✗ Incorrect
- This focuses too narrowly on financial penalties as the 'most effective mechanism'
- While the passage mentions penalties, it doesn't argue they were most effective and this misses the main focus on demonstrating improvements
To compare the environmental challenges faced by different types of industries under the Clean Air Act
✗ Incorrect
- The passage doesn't compare challenges between different types of industries
- This completely misrepresents what the passage does
To provide an overview of the technological innovations that were available before the Clean Air Act's passage
✗ Incorrect
- The passage discusses innovations that resulted from the Act, not innovations available before it
- This gets the timeline backwards - these technologies developed as a result of the Act, not before it