#15 - Specific Reference, Author's Perspective

[Chandler H]

Author's Perspective (AP), Specific Reference (SR)
(See the complete passage discussion here: viewtopic.php?f=895&t=38305)

The correct answer choice is (A).

The justification for the correct answer can be found in lines 9-16: renewable energy sources, which includes solar radiation, are available in "virtually all geographic regions." Also, throughout the passage, the author stresses the importance of profitability with regards to renewable energy.

[lilmissunshine]

Hello,

Could you explain why (A) is correct? I only found supporting evidence for the first half in line 19-21: "Technologies for the successful long-term exploitation of these resources, however, are not always implemented successfully". But I'm having trouble justifying the second half of the answer choice - "these systems can be implemented profitably in many countries". Where can I locate this in the passage?

Thank you very much!

[James Finch]

Hi Lil Miss Sunshine,

The example used in the third paragraph also support answer choice (A), despite being about wind energy. The scope of the passage concerns all renewable energy sources, as the first paragraph explains, and uses the Brazilian solar example as illustrative of mistakes to avoid, and the Danish/Indian example as a model to emulate, when planning any renewable energy project. Thus we can infer the author believes that by "recognizing the importance of local involvement at all levels" any renewable energy project, including solar, can have "a good chance of remaining competitive and profitable for the long run." (Lines 59-62).

Hope this helps!

[miriamson07]

Hi,

Two things held me back from selecting answer choice A:

first, I couldn’t find evidence in the passage that solar power could be implemented profitably in many countries. Perhaps some countries - but many felt a bit extreme.

Second, I interpreted “profitable” in the traditional sense of having more revenue than costs. It seems appropriate to use that way because the word profitable is used in a financial sense in the third paragraph, when efforts in India are discussed.

If the word “profitable” in answer choice A just means beneficial rather than specifically having higher revenues than costs, answer choice A would make more sense to me.

I suppose also that since this question asks what is most likely, I can leave more room for inferences like the “many countries” inference?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi miriamson,

You asked,

I suppose also that since this question asks what is most likely, I can leave more room for inferences like the “many countries” inference?

That's exactly right. Correct answers in most likely agree questions aren't explicitly stated verbatim in the passage. Instead, the test makers are requiring you to use what is stated in the passage and extrapolate from the author's reasoning to pick the answer that seems most in line with that reasoning.

The basic idea is, based on what we know about what the author believes/argues in the passage, which answer would seem to be in line with/follow from that line of reasoning.

I agree that one should always be wary of answers that contain the word "many" because it is a vague word and appears in wrong answers more often than correct answers. (For example, the test makers know that a lot of people confuse the word "many" with "most" and test that difference.) In this case though, there's really no reason why the word "many" should be a problem.

The main idea of the passage (as expressed in Answer D of question 14, the Main Point question) is that renewable energy sources seem to be a good solution to the demand for electricity as long as long-term, local participation is used. While the second paragraph shows an example of when a project failed in Brazil because they did not use long-term local participation, and the third paragraph shows an example of when a project succeeded in India because they did use long-term local participation, these examples are shown to make a broader point: namely that renewable energy sources can be used to help solve the demand for electricity as long as countries don't make the same mistake that the U.S. made in Brazil (i.e. not having long-term, local participation). In other words, the passage isn't just about what happened in Brazil and India, but what lesson can be learned from these two examples and applied to future renewable energy projects.

Answer A gets at this general idea, and based on the fact that "these renewable resources are available in virtually all geographic regions" (lines 13-14), there's reason to believe that the author would agree with Answer A, certainly more likely to agree with this answer than the others. In other words, there's no reason given in the passage to think that it wouldn't work in many countries, and some reasons to think that it should work in many countries as long as they use long-term, local participation.

As for the word "profitable," I don't think that it would matter to the answer whether you use either of those definitions. The passage mentions that the India project has "a good chance of remaining competitive and profitable in the long run" (lines 60-62), and that can be understood as: economically viable, successful, sustainable, etc.. The key point being made about being profitable is that the project should not fail/go out-of-business.