Reading comp PrepTest 115 · Section 1 · Question 3

Topic: Science

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Problem introduced (resource shortage and excess waste with population growth)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • List of problems, according to the author:
    • Copper, nickel, petroleum will last a decade at current consumption (second sentence)
    • Enough waste each year to bury large cities 100 m deep (gross) (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "ideally" (first sentence); "would last a decade or less" (second sentence); "suggest" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Author's solution (Industrial ecosystem, which minimizes and recycles waste)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • The problem should motivate us to switch to an alternative model for industry, called the "industrial ecosystem" (second and third sentences)
  • Definition of "industrial ecosystem": A system where consumption is optimized and waste is minimized and used as the raw material for other processes (last sentence)
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • Distinction drawn between the "traditional model of industrial activity" and the "industrial ecosystem," which is more "integrated" (third sentence)
  • Examples of waste that is utilized for other processes in the "industrial ecosystem," according to the author:
    • Spent catalysts from petroleum refining and discarded plastic from consumer products (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "not meant to predict a grim future" (first sentence); "emphasize the incentives" (second sentence); "suggest" (third sentence); "should be transformed into a more integrated model" (third sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Support for solution (How an industrial ecosystem generates less waste)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparisons, according to the author:
    • Materials in an industrial ecosystem will be depleted at the same rate as materials in a biological ecosystem (first sentence)
    • An industrial ecosystem will inevitably consume energy and create waste/harmful by-products, but at a much lower rate than what is typical today (last sentence)
  • Examples of ways industrial ecosystems will reuse materials
    • Lifecycle of a "chunk of steel" (second sentence)
    • "Designed offal" in metal and plastic manufacturers (third sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "ideal" (first sentence); "still requires" (last sentence); "unavoidable generation of some wastes and some wastes and harmful by-products, but at much lower levels than are typical today" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Author's conclusion (industrial ecosystem is possible if countries embrace changes)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's conclusion:
    • The ideal industrial ecosystem may not be attainable in the near future, but countries embracing major changes in the face of dwindling resources and increasing waste should make it possible to develop a more sustainable industrial ecosystem. (first and last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "ideal" (first sentence); "economically viable role for every product of a manufacturing process" (first sentence); "will not be attained soon" (first sentence); "often inadequate" (first sentence); "should be possible to develop" (last sentence); "decreasing supplies of raw materials" (last sentence); "increasing problems of waste and pollution" (last sentence)

Main Point: The urgent problem of resource depletion and excessive waste should lead industrialized and developing nations to embrace the principles of the "industrial ecosystem," in which consumption is optimized, waste is minimized, and refuge serves as the raw material for other processes.

Problem/Solution - This passage is a quintessential version of Problem/Solution Meta-Structure*, a common structuring device for science passages. The problem — that the resource consumption and waste production of industrialized nations will bury us alive alarming soon — is defined in the first paragraph. The solution is outlined in the remaining paragraphs.

In this Meta-Structure, the main point is the author's proposed solution (or the author's opinions one the proposed solution proffered by others). The author proposes the solution in the second paragraph: Let's switch things up from the traditional industrial activity (by the way, problems with a "traditional" practice often show up in these Meta-Structures), to a leaner, greener, new model of the "industrial ecosystem." When that model is initially defined in the second paragraph, it sort of just sounds like recycling, and doesn't exactly sound like groundbreaking or world-saving stuff. But when the author supports how an "industrial ecosystem" will conserve resources and reduce waste in the third paragraph, we get a better idea of how it works: in an industrial ecosystem, materials are conserved and reused as efficiently and completely as in a biological ecosystem. The author then makes the final push for this system in the passage's concluding sentence.

In this Problem/Solution Meta-Structure, we should also note if the author acknowledges any limitations to the proposed solutions. This author does, twice: (1) there will also be some energy expenditure and waste in the use of "designed offal", and (2) we don't currently have the technology to realize the "ideal" industrial ecosystem.

*Still, you could also credibly claim this is an Old Approach/New Approach passage, with the "industrial ecosystem" standing in for the new approach. Remember, there's often more than one Meta-Structure that will fit a passage's argument.

This is one in which you could easily get bogged down in the details. They could conceivably ask us about any number of the odd details brought up here, from the types of natural resources we're depleting to the ways "effluents" could be reused to the intricacies of "designed offal." But, unlike large cities and suburbs ten years from now, don't let these details bury you 100 meters deep. Just remember where in the passage the problem is located (the first paragraph), where the solution is outlined (the second paragraph and third paragraphs), and where the author qualifies the solution (the end of the third paragraph and beginning of the fourth paragraph).