Og-183

Editorial:

Regulations recently imposed by the government of Risemia call for unprecedented reductions in the amounts of pollutants manufacturers are allowed to discharge into the environment. It will take costly new pollution control equipment requiring expensive maintenance to comply with these regulations. Resultant price increases for Risemian manufactured goods will lead to the loss of some export markets. Clearly, therefore, annual exports of Risemian manufactured goods will in the future occur at

diminished levels.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument in the editorial?

(A) The need to comply with the new regulations will stimulate the development within Risemia of new pollution control equipment for which a strong worldwide demand is likely to emerge.

(B) The proposed regulations include a schedule of fines for noncompliance that escalate steeply in cases of repeated noncompliance.

(C) Savings from utilizing the chemicals captured by the pollution control equipment will remain far below the cost of maintaining the equipment.

(D) By international standards, the levels of pollutants currently emitted by some of Risemia’s manufacturing plants are not considered excessive.

(E) The stockholders of most Risemia’s manufacturing corporations exert substantial pressure on the corporations to comply with environmental laws.

维系该控制污染设备的费用要高于该设备回收利用的化学品的价值。它的含义是维

持该设备对企业是一个成本增加，所以支持了结论。