Need Help on GRE Reading Comprehension

O.K. let me consider     a sample ETS Reading Comprehension question which you can find on the internet. Read the following passage.

Policymakers must confront the dilemma that fossil fuels continue to be an indispensable source of energy even though burning them produces atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide that increase the likelihood of potentially disastrous global climate change. Currently, technology that would capture carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and sequester it harmlessly underground or undersea instead of releasing it into the atmosphere might double the cost of generating electricity.

But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution, delivered prices will rise less, by no more than 50 percent. Research into better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide will undoubtedly lead to lowered costs.

Sample Multiple-choice Question Select One Answer Choice

1.   The passage implies which of the following about the current cost of generating electricity?

A.   It is higher than it would be if better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide were available.
B.   It is somewhat less than the cost of electricity transmission and distribution.
C.   It constitutes at most half of the delivered price of electricity.
D.   It is dwelt on by policymakers to the exclusion of other costs associated with electricity delivery.
E.   It is not fully recovered by the prices charged directly to electricity consumers.

There are two major requirements to deal with reading comprehension questions.
1. Conceptual clarity
2. Understanding the question.

1.The question deals with the energy economics of Carbon capture and sequestration. (Sequestration = confiscation or seizure )It means technology adoption to achieve feasibility. The combustion of fossil fuels like coal and natural gas in electrical generators emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a technology that captures CO2 from a power plant’s flue gas and pumps concentrated CO2 into geological storage reservoirs, preventing its release into the atmosphere. The cost of such electricity generation is prohibitive. But the cost of transmission of power in the electrical grids does not exceed 50%

2.The most important word in the question is “implies” meaning “suggests” or “assumes”.

If you analyse the statements
Answer A contradicts the meaning of the passage and is not about the current cost of power generation.
Answer B. Like answer A is not relevant.
Answer C. truly concerns the current cost of power generation and the transmission.
Answer D Has no direct implication to the passage. It is not about what the policy makers have done.
Answer E The passage is all about the cost and not about the price paid by the consumer.

A good strategy is to read the question first and then and you will know what to look for in the passage.Trouble comes when you are short of vocabulary and stuck in the middle.