Reading comp PrepTest 158 · Section 1 · Question 6

Passage

 A major problem facing industrial societies is their exponentially increasing production of toxic waste. Environmental regulations and expenses for landfills Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic:
Science

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • Background to Problem: Deep-well injection of waste
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Background info on deep-well injection: Drill hole into rock layer already filled with salt water, inject waste into salt water, typically between 300 and 1800 meters underground (fourth through seventh sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "major problem" (first sentence), "serious problems" (last sentence)
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • Two problems with injection: leaks and human errors
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of potential issues, item 1: leak due to mechanical failure (second sentence)
    • List of potential issues, item 2: leak due to human error (third sentence)
    • Example of leak due to human error: a gap in a 500-meter deep well (fourth and fifth sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "best conditions" (first sentence), "significant amount of noxious chemicals" (second sentence), "dangerous levels of water materials for long periods of time before the problem is even discovered" (last sentence)
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Third problem with injection: unpredictable water flow
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of potential issues, item 3: unpredictable water flow (first sentence)
    • Comparison: surface water vs. underground water (second sentence)
      • Surface water's flow only affected by gravity, underground water's flow is influenced by other factors, like pressure gradients
    • Author's attitude: "nearly impossible" (first sentence)
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • Author's conclusion
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's conclusion: "The significant uncertainty about where injected wastes will flow, along with the possibilities of mechanical failure and human error, makes deep-well injection a risky means of managing hazardous wastes" (first sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "significant uncertainty" (first sentence), "possibilities of mechanical failure and human error" (first sentence), "risky means of managing hazardous wastes" (first sentence), "Unfortunately" (second sentence)


Main Point:
The increasing use of deep-well injection of hazardous waste presents a risk of severe water contamination due to mechanical failure, human error, and significant uncertainty about where the injected waste will flow.

Key Lines?
Paragraph 1, Sentence 3 (P1, S3) - Problem introduced
P1, S4-6: How deep-well drilling works
P1, S8 - Controversy surrounding problem described
P4, S1 - Author's conclusion

Meta-Structure?
Problem/Solution: The author identifies a problem in the first paragraph, suggesting that this passage utilizes a Problem/Solution Meta-Structure. In the first paragraph, the author defines the problem: industries increasingly use deep-well injection to dispose of hazardous waste (P1, S3). The author also describes the ensuing controversy: people reliant on underground water sources aren't cool with toxic waste being pumped near their drinking water (P1, S8). However, the author doesn't really provide any solutions in this passage. The author uses the second and third paragraphs to describe why deep-well injection is a worrisome problem. The author then recaps their position in the final paragraph. So, this is less a Problem/Solution passage than just a Problem passage. As such, the main point will be the author's opinion on the problem, which is conveniently summarized by the final paragraph. That paragraph asserts that the increasing use of deep-well injection of hazardous waste presents a risk of severe water contamination due to mechanical failure, human error, and significant uncertainty about where the injected waste will flow.

List: This passage is also organized around a list. Lists are sometimes hard to identify in Reading Comp. However, claims like "there are three serious problems with this method of waste disposal" (P1, S9) provide a strong hint that we're about to get a list of three items. The first two items are enumerated in the second paragraph — the wells may leak due to mechanical failure (P2, S2) or human error (P2, S3-S4). The third item is described in the third paragraph: water flows unpredictably underground, which increases the risk of extensive but unknown contamination (P3, S1-3). When the author organizes part of the passage around items on a list, we'll probably get at least one question about the list. Therefore, it's a good idea to note, remember, or highlight where each item was discussed in each paragraph.

Last Thoughts?
This is a tremendously detail-oriented passage. The first paragraph — the longest — describes deep-well injection in a manner that is ... excuse the pun ... very in-depth. The following two paragraphs enumerate, in detail, three reasons why the author thinks deep-well injection is problematic. Even the author's main point — offered in the last paragraph — just reiterates each item in that list. This passage drills us with details, so we should expect a higher-than-normal amount of Minor Point questions.

Question prompt

According to the passage, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Science

Answer choices

  1. A
    more controversial because of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    Question Type:
    Minor Point/Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Refer to notes or what you highlighted/underlined to locate where the passage discusses what deep-well injection of hazardous wastes has become, and refer to the relevant part of the passage as needed to find that answer choice that must be true

    Answer Anticipation:
    This is the third consecutive question that asks us to identify a specific piece of information. So, once again, we must quickly find that piece of information using our notes and what we highlighted or underlined.

    Here, the question asks about "what deep-well injection of hazardous wastes has become." This is a rather general question about deep-well injection. We can probably find the answer in the first paragraph, which provides the most background information on this method of waste disposal. Early in that paragraph, the author says that deep-well injection has become an increasingly common method industries use to dispose of waste (P1, S3). Later in that paragraph, the author says that deep-well injection has "become a matter of controversy as growing numbers of communities come to rely on underground sources of drinking water" (P1, S8). The correct answer will likely reflect one of these two facts. Let's look for an answer choice that says deep-well injection has become more common used among industries or more controversial among communities.

    Answer Choice Explanation:
    We are looking for an answer choice that says deep-well injection has become more common or controversial. This answer choice says the latter, so it is correct. This assertion is directly supported by the eighth sentence in the first paragraph, which states that deep-well injection has become more controversial as more communities rely on underground drinking water. This answer choice also relates to the "Problem" central to this passage's Meta-Structure, so it should be familiar to any test-taker who took the time to reflect on this passage's overarching structure. Because this answer choice is a dead-ringer for our anticipation and is intimately tied to the passage's Meta-Structure, we would be justified in selecting it and moving on without reading the remaining answer choices.

    Key Takeaway:
    This question illustrates why anticipation can be so helpful on the LSAT. Many test-takers choose (C). However, a well-prepared test-taker who reviewed the correct part of the passage and formed a precise anticipation might not even feel the need to look at (C). Or, if they did look at (C), their anticipation would help them realize that (A) is far better supported by the passage.
  2. B
    more controversial because of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    We are looking for an answer choice that says deep-well injection has become more common or controversial. This says that deep-well injection has become more controversial, which might make it an attractive answer choice for some test-takers who didn't select (A) and move on to Question 7. Although this answer choice begins promisingly, it mischaracterizes why deep-well injection has become more controversial. According to the passage, the controversy is related to communities' dependence on drinking water (P1, S8) and the three dangers associated with deep-well injection (P1, S9). In discussing these problems, the author never claims that more people have succumbed to "toxin-related illnesses." For that reason, this answer choice is unsupported.
  3. C
    more widely accepted because Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    We are looking for an answer choice that says deep-well injection has become more common or controversial. This says that deep-well injection has become more widely accepted, which is the opposite of controversial. For that reason, we could quickly eliminate this answer choice.

    If we assume that by "widely accepted" this answer choice means that deep-well injection has become more widely accepted by industries, this answer might be consistent with the claim that deep-well injection is more common. And this might make (C) an attractive answer choice for those who hadn't already moved on to Question 7. Deep-well injection has indeed become more "widely accepted" (at least among waste-producing industries) (P1, S3). However, this acceptance didn't arise "because newly developed alternatives" are more expensive. This acceptance arose because the old alternatives — landfills and incinerators — became more expensive (P1, S2). It would be easy to make a few edits to turn this into a correct answer ("more widely accepted among certain industries because earlier waste-disposal options have become more expensive than they once were"). However, as worded, this answer choice does not accurately convey why deep-well injection has become more widely accepted among industries.
  4. D
    more widely accepted because Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    We are looking for an answer choice that says deep-well injection has become more common or controversial. Like (C), (D) says that deep-well injection is now more widely accepted, which is the opposite of controversial. For that reason, we could quickly eliminate this answer choice.

    On the other hand, some may assume that "widely accepted" means that industries are more commonly using this practice to dispose toxic waste. This interpretation may make (D) tempting for those who hadn't already selected (A). Still, this is incorrect. Although deep-well injection became more "widely accepted" (among waste-producing industries) (P1, S3), it wasn't because the public became increasingly aware of environmental issues. In fact, the public apparently became more aware of environmental problems with deep-well injection because the practice became more common (P1, S8). So, the passage suggests that the cause-and-effect relationship runs in the opposite direction. This makes (D) incorrect, even under the alternative interpretation. 
  5. E
    more widely accepted because Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    We are looking for an answer choice that says deep-well injection has become more common or controversial. Yet again, this answer choice is "more widely accepted," which is the opposite of controversial. Again, this allows us to quickly eliminate this answer choice.

    However, some may assume this answer choice is saying that the practice has become more "widely accepted" by industries that need to dispose of toxic waste. Even under that interpretation, (E) is wrong. Deep-well injection has indeed become more "widely accepted" (at least among waste-producing industries) (P1, S3). But this acceptance isn't the result of the high toxicity levels of the waste the industries are injecting into the wells. This acceptance arose because the other ways to eliminate high-toxicity waste — such as landfills and incinerators — have become more expensive and regulated (P1, S2). So, this answer choice misstates this fact, and is incorrect.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 73%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 19%
  4. D 1%
  5. E 2%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

No threads yet—be the first to ask a question or share an approach.

View all discussions Start a discussion