XAT 2019 — VARC Question 26
Dense, dirty air laced with grease best describes the atmosphere of most Lagos streets. Drive from one corner of this great west African city to another and in no time you will find surfaces lightly dusted, like a soft sprinkling of icing on cakes. Under the halfmoons of fingernails, thick grime settles. It’s a scene taken as typically African: polluted, bedraggled, unhealthy. This has only ever been made possible by the exploitation of Africa’s people. This week five west African countries, Nigeria included, announced plans to end the practice of European oil companies and traders exporting “African quality” diesel. “Dirty fuel” has earned the name because it is imported diesel with sulphur levels as high as 3,000 parts per million when the European maximum is 10ppm. To be clear, “African quality” fuel, is fuel not fit for European humans.
Which of the options is not necessarily the underlying assumption of the author in the paragraph above?
Answer & solution
- A
Economic exploitation, until challenged runs smoothly.
- B
African nations had accepted ‘dirty fuel’ as the norm.
- C
Typically, African cities today are not fit for human habitation.
Racism makes it easy for Europeans to justify the exploitation of inferior races.
- E
European oil companies dump their fuel on African countries.
As per the last two sentences of the paragraph, the quality of ‘African quality’ fuel is different from the one used in Europe since it is not considered fit for ‘European humans’. This implies that European oil companies differentiate between African and European people. Option 1 talks about the economic exploitation in general while the paragraph is specifically about the exploitation of Africa’s people. Thus it can be negated. Option 2 is incorrect as some African countries have come together to end the practice of ‘dirty fuel’. The given paragraph only gives an example of Lagos. Though the fourth sentence of the paragraph states that an African scene is typically ‘polluted, bedraggled and unhealthy’, it does not imply that all African cities are similar to Lagos. Thus option 3 cannot be inferred from the paragraph; negate it. Option 4 can be assumed from the last three sentences of the paragraph. Retain it. As per the sixth sentence of the paragraph, oil companies export diesel to African countries. Thus the phrase ‘dump’ which means ‘to offer goods for sale in large quantities at a low price’ or ‘to dump below-cost goods into foreign markets’ is incorrect in the given context. Thus option 5 can also be negated.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.