Verovia has a strange situation going on: it exports a lot of coal, and yet it also imports a lot of coal. Not only that, but the amount that it exports would cover the amount that it imports -- it exports millions of tons of coal, and then imports a fraction of that amount. Why is Verovia importing coal when it clearly has enough to meet its own needs?

The mystery is deepened by the fact that the coal Verovia imports is exactly the same kind that it exports. This eliminates the possibility that Verovia wants a different type of coal for some reason.

A certain geographer has explained this conundrum by discussing Veronia's geographical layout. He/she argues that since the coal mines are in the eastern part of Verovia and several coal-demanding cities are on the opposite side of the country, it makes sense for Verovia to import coal.

Which answer choice supports this explanation?


This supports the geographer's claim. He/she argues that the "hundreds of kilometers" between the eastern coal mines and western cities are the reason that Verovia imports coal. (A) gives us information about why these hundred of kilometers are such an impediment -- the interior of the country is "impassible" for most of the year, so the coal can't make it from the east to the west.

Does (A) prove that that the geographer's explanation is correct? Nope! Maybe Verovia could develop a system to transport and store the coal it needs when the route is passable. Or maybe it could develop an alternate route that bypasses the interior of the country. That's ok -- we don't need to prove that the geographer is right. We just need to provide a bit of support for his/her explanation, and (A) does just that.

(A) supports the geographer's argument, so keep (A).


The main issue with (B) is that it doesn't give us a comparison of distances from the coal mines to their destination. Sure, the country of Gorosco borders western Verovia, but where are the coal mines in Gorosco? They could be right next to the border, or they could be thousands of kilometers away.

The geographer's argument is that Verovia's mines are hundreds of kilometers away from the western cities. We'd need to know that the Goroscan mines are closer than this for (B) to support the geographer's argument.

Eliminate (B).


(C) tells us what the coal is used for, but that doesn't give us any insight into whether the geographer's assertion is correct.

Get rid of (C).


(D) really doesn't give us much info about why Verovia imports coal. We already know that Verovia exports enough coal to cover its own shortfall, and it doesn't particularly matter where this coal is exported to.

Eliminate (D).


Yeah, this really has no bearing on why Verovia is importing coal.

(E) is out, and (A) is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!