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Difficulty: HardStatement and Conclusions or Inferences

Carefully read the following policy excerpt and the two conclusions based on it:

Statement: "In response to the rapid depletion of regional groundwater reserves, the State Environmental Protection Board (SEPB) has issued a binding regulatory resolution. Any textile manufacturing facility operating within the designated arid zones must fully transition to a zero-liquid-discharge (ZLD) system by December 2029. However, facilities within these zones that currently maintain at least an 80% internal water recycling rate are granted a compliance extension until December 2031."

Conclusion I: The primary cause of groundwater depletion in the designated arid zones is the excessive water consumption by textile manufacturing facilities.
Conclusion II: A textile manufacturing facility located in a designated arid zone with a current internal water recycling rate of 85% is not legally required by this SEPB resolution to have a fully operational ZLD system in January 2030.

Which of the given conclusions logically follow(s) from the statement?

  1. A
    Only conclusion I follows
  2. Only conclusion II followsAnswer
  3. C
    Both conclusion I and conclusion II follow
  4. D
    Neither conclusion I nor conclusion II follows

Answer

Only conclusion II logically follows from the given statement.
The statement explicitly grants a compliance extension until December 2031 for facilities with at least an 80% water recycling rate. Because 85% is greater than 80%, the specific facility in Conclusion II qualifies for the extension. Therefore, in January 2030 (which falls before the December 2031 deadline), the facility is not yet required to have a fully operational ZLD system, making Conclusion II a valid deduction. Conclusion I is invalid because the text only states the board is targeting textile facilities 'in response' to depletion; it does not quantify their impact or identify them as the 'primary' cause.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze Conclusion I against the provided text.
The text states the SEPB is regulating textile facilities to address groundwater depletion, but does not state they are the 'primary cause'.
Logical deductions must rely solely on provided information, not external assumptions about industry impact.
2
Analyze the conditional requirements for Conclusion II.
The facility in the scenario recycles 85% of its water. This exceeds the 80% threshold explicitly required by the policy to receive an extension.
Comparing the specific facility's metrics against the policy's conditions determines its legal compliance timeline.
3
Evaluate the timeline for the facility in Conclusion II.
Because the facility qualifies for the extension, its new deadline is December 2031. January 2030 occurs well before this extended deadline.
To determine if the facility is legally required to comply by January 2030, we verify if this date falls before or after their specific granted extension.

Key Concept

Differentiating between direct logical inference from conditional policy text and unstated causal assumptions.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Statement and Conclusions or Inferences

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