▶ Your Answer :
In this set of materials, both the reading
passage and the lecture discusses whether ethanol fuel is a good alternative for
gasoline or not. The reading passage argues that ethanol fuel is not a good
replacement because it releases greenhouse gas, reduces animal food sources and
could not compete with gasoline’s price. The lecture strongly refutes these
claims made in the reading passage for following three reasons.
First of all, the lecture argues that ethanol
fuel will not increase global warming. He explains that although ethanol may
produce carbon dioxide, growing plants removes carbon dioxide. Thus, growing
corns would not increase global warming effect. This contradicts with the reading
passage’s claim that ethanol fuel will not solve environmental problems such as
global warming, because it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Furthermore, the lecture contends that
ethanol fuel will not reduce animal food resources by using cellulose. The
lecture explains that cellulose is part of the plant that is not eaten by
animals. Thus creating ethanol fuel from cellulose will not affect animal food
resources. This rebuffs reading passage’s claim that ethanol fuel would
excessively reduce animal food resources of corn, because more than 60 percent
of corn in current United States would be needed to meet 10 percent of fuel
needs in United States.
The final point made by the lecture is that
ethanol fuel will be able to compete with gasoline on price. Although ethanol
prices currently rely on United States government subsidies, once enough people
buy enough ethanol, it will increase ethanol production and ultimately drop the
overall ethanol prices. This casts doubt on the reading passage’s claim that
ethanol fuel will increase significantly if United States government stop
offering tax subsidies. |