Scientists Propose Placing Seismic Stations on the Floor of the Pacific Ocean to Warn Threatened Coastal Communities

Question: Scientists propose placing seismic stations on the floor of the Pacific Ocean to warn threatened coastal communities on the northwestern coast of the United States of approaching tidal waves caused by earthquakes. Since forewarned communities could take steps to evacuate, many of the injuries and deaths that would otherwise occur could be avoided if the government would implement this proposal.

The answer to which of the following questions would be most important in determining whether implementing the proposal would be likely to achieve the desired result?

(A) When was the last time that the coastal communities were threatened by an approaching tidal wave?
(B) How far below sea level would the stations be located?
(C) Would there be enough time after receiving warning of an approaching tidal wave for communities to evacuate safely?
(D) How soon after a tidal wave hits land is it safe for evacuees to return to their communities?
(E) Can the stations be equipped to collect and relay information about phenomena other than tidal waves caused by earthquakes?

Answer: C
Explanation:

This question is the "Evaluate the conclusion/argument.". Here, we need to find the statement which provides information to decide whether the assumption in the argument is true or false.

Question:
We need to evaluate the proposal in terms of whether it can achieve the desired result or not

Conclusion:
The proposal (seismic stations of the pacific ocean floor) is likely to help avoid many injuries and deaths which would otherwise occur

We have to identify the scenarios in which our conclusion breaks. Once we find that, we will be able to test the validity of the conclusion.

Let us check the passage.
Given that
- seismic stations will be able to provide warning about impending tidal waves due to earthquakes
- Forewarned communities will be able to take steps to evacuate

The questions that one might ask are:
What if the time between receipt of the warning is too little for the communities to do evacuation measures?
In that case, even with warnings from seismic stations (proposal), the communities may not be able to avoid injuries and death.

Now, let us evaluate each option one at a time.

(A) When was the last time that the coastal communities were threatened by an approaching tidal wave? - When was the last time there was a tidal wave threat has no bearing on whether the new proposal will be able to help avoid injury and death

(B) How far below sea level would the stations be located? - We have no information in the argument to gauge the impact of location on the effectiveness of the seismic stations. Effect of exact location of seismic stations on whether they will likely succeed in avoiding injury/death is unclear. Hence, incorrect.

(C) Would there be enough time after receiving warning of an approaching tidal wave for communities to evacuate safely? - The passage says that many of the injuries and deaths that would otherwise occur could be avoided if the government would implement this proposal.This means that it increases likelihood of the proposal being successful once implemented. Communities will have enough time to evacuate safely

The safety comes first and hence, this would be the most appropriate option.

(D) How soon after a tidal wave hits land is it safe for evacuees to return to their communities? - This statement is completely Irrelevant. It does not matter when it is safe for people who have evacuated to come back. Also, there is nothing mentioned in the passage regarding this.

(E) Can the stations be equipped to collect and relay information about phenomena other than tidal waves caused by earthquakes? - This is also irrelevant. The argument is about whether the seismic stations will succeed in preventing injury/death in cases of tidal waves caused by earthquakes. Any other potential disaster (say, hurricane) is not relevant to the argument we are trying to validate.

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