Despite or As a result of

Question

Our country is notorious for its contradictory national exam questions.

And here is the question that we have been discussing about. these days.

---- deriving two-thirds of its power supply from fossil fuels, power producers in India cannot get enough pipeline space to distribute natural gas.

A) Despite

B) As a result of

According to the authorities there is only one correct answer. Which one is true and why?

We need a native speaker for this question. Please enlighten us.

Thank you very much.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Our country is notorious for its contradictory national exam questions.

And here is the question that we have been discussing about. these days.

---- deriving two-thirds of its power supply from fossil fuels, power producers in India cannot get enough pipeline space to distribute natural gas.

A) Despite Correct.

B) As a result of

According to the authorities there is only one correct answer. Which one is true and why?
You are confusing the words 'true' and 'correct'.
Clive has a billion dollars is correct grammar. But it is not true.

We need a native speaker for this question. Please enlighten us.

Consider these much simpler examples.
Despite loving Tom, Mary did not marry him. "Loving Tom' is a reason that she should marry him. But 'despite' means this reason did not work.

As a result of loving Tom, Mary did not marry him. 'As a result of' means that the reason worked, ie it sounds like she married him. But the second part of the sentence tell us she did not. So, the two parts together make no sense.

Now apply this explanation to your test question.

Please ask again if this is still not clear.

Clive

PS Let me add this.
It seems like a poor question to me, because the relationship between the first part (the reason) and the second part (the result) seems less clear than in my simpler example.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousAnd here is the question that we have been discussing ~~about.~~ these days.

Anonymous---- deriving two-thirds of its power supply from fossil fuels, power producers in India cannot get enough pipeline space to distribute natural gas.A) DespiteB) As a result ofAccording to the authorities there is only one correct answer. Which one is ~~true~~ correct and why?

A. Despite (Even though they derive two-thirds of ... supply ..., ....)
B. As a result of (Because they derive two-thirds of ... supply ..., ....)

Fact: Power producers can't get enough pipeline space (to fulfill their needs).

It seems to me that if we were asked to speculate about why this is true, we might offer the following possibilities as the cause:

a) Pipeline space is very limited.
b) Pipeline space is very expensive.
c) The pipeline space is being used for something else (other than natural gas).
d) ... and so on.

So we might have a statement like: As a result of the high price of obtaining pipeline space and the limitations of their budgets, power producers in India cannot get enough pipeline space to distribute natural gas.

We would not pull up a statistic about what percent of India's power supply comes from fossil fuels to explain why India is having trouble obtaining space in the pipelines to transport natural gas. That's an independent statistic, not an explanation.

Besides, there are probably a lot of countries where two-thirds or more of their power supply comes from fossil fuels, and they aren't having pipeline space problems, so how can the percentage of fossil fuel usage cause these space shortages?

The answer is A. Despite.

A reasonable person would think that if a country derived two-thirds of their power supply from fossil fuels like natural gas, they would ensure that they had enough pipeline space to handle it. Despite that, India doesn't fit this expected norm.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks for yor answers.

We are all know this one is a poor question and there is another problem as well.

In original text the author uses "and" conjunction not despite or something like that.

here is the original text: (second paragraph)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-09/india-s-green-energy-providers-may-struggle-after-power-blackout.html

What do you think? We need a solid answer.

Thanks.

Clive · Answer

Two-thirds of the country’s power supply comes from fossil fuels, and power producers can’t get enough coal to fire their plants or enough pipeline space to distribute natural gas, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Aug. 13 edition

I see it as a presentation of two simple facts with no strong relationship.
ie Two-thirds of the country’s power supply comes from fossil fuels. Power producers have problems in obtaining fossil fuels.

Have I answered the question you are now asking us?
If not, then precisely what is now your question?

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

I just wanted to add the original text to see your comments about it.

Thank you Clive.

Anonymous · Answer

Could we go for the option of DESPITE without a prior knowledge that the natural gas is a kind of fossil fuel? And to what extent is a proficiency test permitted to depend on a prior knowledge rather than language proficiency? More accurately, what option looks logical if we don't know tha natural gas is a fossil fuel? And is really it?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Isn't anyone bothered by the singular "its" and plural "power producers"?

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousCould we go for the option of DESPITE without a prior knowledge that the natural gas is a kind of fossil fuel?

Probably not.

Anonymous And to what extent is a proficiency test permitted to depend on a prior knowledge rather than language proficiency?

That's a very difficult question to answer. It is almost inevitable that, as one's vocabulary grows, so does one's knowledge of the the things denoted by the words. It would be difficult to construct an advanced level test without assuming some knowledge of other things.

Even at an elementary level, a test question such as the following assumes that your candidate in a tropical country has acquired some knowledgeabout snow.

When Bobby saw that it was snowing, he put on his boots/sandals/slippers.

AnonymousMore accurately, what option looks logical if we don't know tha natural gas is a fossil fuel? And is really it?

It's already been established that this was not a very good question. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it if that is the one that was set.

Anonymous · Answer

Nancy Pelosi would support us on that while saying “I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels,” or at another speech “ (natural gas) is cheap, abundant and clean compared to fossil fuels.”

Just because of its name, the natural gas seems to be non-organic fossil fuel, even to the knowledgeable native speakers.

I think that the question is faulty or poor at some points:
1. It doesn't contain sufficient or clear information to lead the testee to the desired option.
2. It partly depends on a prior knowledge on physics or biology rather than language proficiency.
3. It is not clear why we need "enough pipeline space". Two-thirds of Indian power supply already comes from fossil-fuels, apparently through some pipeline, which means they don't need any new pipeline space. A third does not. And nobody knows why these, for example solar energy users, need pipeline?

Despite or As a result of

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