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Craft and StructureVery hardTwo texts on a dam's safety

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The dam is safe: core samples taken last year show its concrete has aged well and remains well above its design strength. Text 2 The concrete was never the concern. The dam stands on limestone that groundwater has been slowly dissolving for decades, and tests of concrete strength say nothing about the rock beneath it.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely regard the evidence cited in Text 1?

  1. A. As accurate but beside the point, because it does not address the real risk.Correct
  2. B. As false, because the concrete is weak.
  3. C. As proof that the dam is safe.
  4. D. As evidence that the limestone is sound.

Answer: A. As accurate but beside the point, because it does not address the real risk.

Concrete strength is granted but irrelevant.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. As false, because the concrete is weak.
Text 2 does not dispute the concrete.
C. As proof that the dam is safe.
Text 2 identifies a different danger.
D. As evidence that the limestone is sound.
The concrete tests say nothing about the rock.

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