Q22 - To decide the issue between

[tzyc]

Hello,

I think I did not understand what the question is asking...
Mark's chain seems shorter so his suggestion is better...

[ohthatpatrick]

This is a tough debate in real-life as well.

Mark has endorsed paper cups as the lesser of the two evils, because plastic foam cups:
- generate a carcinogenic by-product when the foam is produced
and
- persist indefinitely in the environment

Tina thinks paper cups are worse because paper cups:
- burn more petroleum during production
- use more steam, electricity, and cooling water during production
- cost more and use more energy to transport than plastic foam cups
- have mills that produce water pollution
- produce methane, a harmful gas, as they decay

There are definitely MORE negative aspects cited about paper cups, but we might still argue that the foam cups' negative aspects are more serious.

It's hard to weigh these factors against each other, so we should look for an answer choice that will help us figure out how to score the debate.

(A) this might help score the debate ... whichever type of cup reaches its maximum level of harm sooner is worse? (the only issue I would have is that the maximum levels of harm could be very different ... I might tell you that a common cold reaches its maximum level of harm sooner than lung cancer reaches its max level of harm ... does that mean that the common cold is worse than lung cancer? No, we still need a way to judge how bad the harm is in each case) I might keep this on my first pass but put a "~" next to it to indicate I wasn't lovin' it.

(B) This would only help us determine which society is doing the most harm, not which type of cup is doing the most harm. Eliminate this.

(C) The debate is over which is better/worse: plastic or paper cups. It seems like seeking a third option does nothing to settle the debate. Eliminate this.

(D) This is not going to settle the debate, but it's definitely relevant to figuring out which factors are eligible to analyze. As we saw, Mark only discussed the production/disposal of plastic foam. Tina went more deeply into the indirect costs and harm of the paper cup making process. Maybe "plastic" would be deemed worse if we were just judging the environmental impact of "plastic cups in the trash" vs. "paper cups in the trash". But maybe "paper" would be deemed worse if were judging the environmental impact of the entire production/supply/disposal chain of both plastic cups and paper cups.

Suppose we were arguing over who was the better singer: Mariah Carey or Rihanna. The person arguing for Rihanna might say that Rihanna has a great voice and has better stage presence than Mariah. Well ... should 'stage presence' be allowed as one of the criteria for "who is the better singer"? We have to define what variables we're willing to admit into the discussion of "who's the better singer".

If you notice, the question stem says that "to decide the issue", "it would first be most important to decide" ... and (D) is saying, "it's first most important to decide the parameters of the debate."

(E) How big the most popular size of each cup is does not seem relevant to which type of cup is worse for the environment. Say that the most popular size for paper is 10oz and the most popular size for plastic is 16oz. If we got rid of all the paper cups, the most popular size for plastic might change to 10oz (or vice versa if we got rid of all the plastic cups). So we can't make any "bigger volume = more/less trash" type argument in favor of either type of cup.

This is definitely a tricky question. We should be expecting that the correct answer choice will find a way to use/reinforce what we were already told by Mark & Tina.

The other answers all brought up issues that were not raised by Mark or Tina: rate of approaching max harm, societies who use these disposables more/less, a third alternative, and the most popular cup size.

(D), meanwhile, addresses the factors that Mark and Tina did bring up by saying, "Should we be judging this debate on immediate factors, such as those Mark brought up, or on extended, indirect factors as well, such as those that Tina brought up?"

Hope this helps.