paper industry

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 165
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:33 pm
Location: Pune, India
Thanked: 16 times
Followed by:1 members

paper industry

by tetura84 » Sun May 08, 2011 5:06 am
Last year the worldwide paper industry used over twice as much fresh pulp (pulp made directly from raw plant fibers) as recycled pulp (pulp made from wastepaper). A paper-industry analyst has projected that by 2010 the industry will use at least as much recycled pulp annually as it does fresh pulp, while using a greater quantity of fresh pulp than it did last year.
If the information above is correct and the analyst's projections prove to be accurate, which of the following projections must also be accurate?
(A) In 2010 the paper industry will use at least twice as much recycled pulp as it did last years.
(B) In 2010 the paper industry will use at least twice as much total pulp as it did last year.
(C) In 2010 the paper industry will produce more paper from a given amount of pulp than it did last year.
(D) As compared with last year, in 2010 the paper industry will make more paper that contains only recycled pulp.
(E) As compared with last year, in 2010 the paper industry will make less paper that contains only fresh pulp.

A
[spoiler]what's wrong with D?[/spoiler]
78 clicks can change my life !

Legendary Member
Posts: 2330
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am
Thanked: 56 times
Followed by:26 members

by mundasingh123 » Sun May 08, 2011 5:35 am
The Answer choice that you asked about talks about production whereas the stimulus is concerned with Usage / Consumption
I Seek Explanations Not Answers

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:24 am
Thanked: 105 times
Followed by:14 members

by vikram4689 » Sun May 08, 2011 6:45 am
Correctly said by mundasingh, i will just elaborate it so that you understand it better.

Stimulus is concerned about using a particular quantity of pulp. Now we cannot deduce how much paper will be produced. You might be thinking that A and D deduce the same but A says that more pulp will be used and D says that more paper will be produced (we can say that D is correct only if we can prove that the technology used in 2010 to produce paper from pulp is at least as efficient as that used in last year but no information is provided for that. Just think what if that technology used is less efficient and even after using more pulp we are able to produce less paper. Therefore D cannot be the answer.

Do ask in case it is not clear.
Premise: If you like my post
Conclusion : Press the Thanks Button ;)

Legendary Member
Posts: 1112
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 am
Thanked: 77 times
Followed by:49 members

by atulmangal » Sun May 08, 2011 7:27 am
I have completely different thoughts for Op D

(D) As compared with last year, in 2010 the paper industry will make more paper that contains only recycled pulp.

The word ONLY is a suspect..it may be possible to produce paper using the mixture of fresh pulp + recycled pulp...and i believe that's what generally paper industries do...so saying that more paper that contains only recycled pulp is wrong. We are sure that more paper will be made plus we can also say that more recycled pulp will be consumed but more paper produced containing only recycled pulp seems incorrect.

Its possible that the demand of paper produced from only recycled pulp is more last year and later in 2011 the demand for paper made from only recycled pulp decreased, so paper industry produced less paper made from only recycled pulp.

Please correct me if m wrong.

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:24 am
Thanked: 105 times
Followed by:14 members

by vikram4689 » Sun May 08, 2011 8:15 am
Actually, we should not contemplate much into this because any choice that adds new info. in a must be true question is always wrong. However, to discuss the concept we can do this. You mentioned that ONLY is a suspect because "it may be possible to produce paper using the mixture of fresh pulp + recycled pulp" but this does not say it is NOT possible to produce paper from ONLY recycled pulp and hence we cannot reject that. Moreover argument itself mentions paper from recycled pulp so we cannot go against it. Primary reason for this to be incorrect is that we are not given any info. on production process so we cannot assume anything.

Please share your response on this.
Premise: If you like my post
Conclusion : Press the Thanks Button ;)

Legendary Member
Posts: 1112
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 am
Thanked: 77 times
Followed by:49 members

by atulmangal » Sun May 08, 2011 9:50 am
Hi Vikram,

See, the argument contains this word:

USES = CONSUMPTION....right??? but CONSUMPTION IS NOT SAME AS PRODUCTION OR OUTPUT...RIGHT??

Now on this basis, you and many others state that argument is not reflecting any info regarding production hence Op D is incorrect...i agree with this reasoning.

But, i believe in my reasoning is also strong..why???? first u said m making assumption in my reasoning....so dude, in the above reasoning you are also making some assumptions:

For ex:

1) the consumption is okay but the waste is so much that output is even lesser then it was earlier.

The word ONLY is always suspicious, as it narrow down or limits the scope of the argument. I can also say that argument is no where saying that the paper produced is produced separately from the fresh pulp and recycled pulp....No such info is given in the argument.

SO, just as you are denying op D because of lack of info, i'm doing the same in different way..

But, if the ONLY is NOT there, then i reject Op D on the basis of the same reasoning which others have already stated.
Last edited by atulmangal on Sun May 08, 2011 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 218
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 2:43 pm
Thanked: 5 times

by cyrwr1 » Sun May 08, 2011 9:50 am
I agree with Munda,
Focus on only the content in the stimulus. It regards the usage of two pieces(Fresh and Recycled)

Either you can chart it or test the problems with numbers.

2009 2010
Fresh 200+ (200+)+
Recycled 100(set as X) >= (200+)+


Just from seeing this, you can expect the answer choice to feature something involving the ratios of these elements.

Test A and it is correct, check your table if is correct, then move on.

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:24 am
Thanked: 105 times
Followed by:14 members

by vikram4689 » Sun May 08, 2011 5:31 pm
Hi Atul,

Actually i am not making any assumptions, i highlighted the point of lower production to emphasize that we are not given any info on production so we cannot assume anything. We cannot say production will be lower , equal or greater. Since one of the choice mentioned that production will be higher , i just mentioned that lower production can also be one of the cases. My main point is that we cannot say anything about production as we are not given info on this.

As far ONLY is concerned, Yes in this case even i realize you have correctly mentioned that is there is no mention of paper production separately from fresh / recycled pulp. So here also ONLY would be suspect. But we cannot say that every time ONLY would be suspect, MOST of the time it is suspect and that is for the reason that you mentioned. Lets say in this case had it been mentioned that production is done separately : using fresh pulp and using recycled pulp. Then in that ONLY though limiting the scope would not be suspect.

Share your views.
Premise: If you like my post
Conclusion : Press the Thanks Button ;)

Legendary Member
Posts: 1112
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 am
Thanked: 77 times
Followed by:49 members

by atulmangal » Sun May 08, 2011 5:47 pm
Hi Vikram,

Yes, that's what i said, ONLY limits the scope of the argument while the argument is relatively broad, so the use of ONLY is suspicious here. You are correct, in most of the cases, the word ONLY is suspicious because generally test makers present broad arguments. Here also, if the process was separately defined then the use of ONLY will be possibly correct. Actually, i think, whoever constructed this question has the same point which i have in my mind, thats why you see, intentionally he placed ONLY in the answer choice. Anyways, if ONLY is removed, still the answer choice is wrong.