Recent studies show that people between the ages of 13 and 55 produce

Recent studies show that people between the ages of 13 and 55 produce 65 pounds more garbage per year than they did in 1995. This increase has led to a higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all the age groups. This age group constitutes a growing percentage of the population, so it partially explains this rise.

Which of the following can be concluded from passage?

Explanation:
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A. People over the age of 55 produce more garbage than people less than the age of 13. ---> Nothing as such can be concluded from the passage.

B. Population has risen since 1995. ---> Not necessarily true. Even without any rise (i.e., constant growth rate) in population, we can still have the scenario described above.

C. People between the age of 13 and 55 are more than half of current population. ---> This cannot be concluded from the passage.

D. Before 1995, people below age 13 and above age 55 produced higher percentage of total garbage than they do now. ---> Irrelevant. What they did before 1995 is not relevant to the matter at hand.

E. People between the age of 13 and 55 produce more garbage than those below 13 or older than 55. ---> By process of elimination. We can also conclude this by the following: ...increase has led to a higher percentage.....by all the age groups...
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I too go for choice E.


Regards,
Technext

some info: 13-55 produce 65pds > 1995. increase lead to higher % total garbage by all age groups. this group seems to be growing.

It seems it is B because the passage says it constitus a growing percentage of population. E is tempting but there's no data behind it

I go with D. What's the OA

This is a kind of INFERENCE question, so we should find the SCOPE of the question.
- The people from this age of 13 and 55 produce 65 pounds more garbage/year than they did in 1995
=> Increase in % of total garbage produce by all group
- 13-55 years old people increase => rise in garbage

A) This is out of scope, the argument did not mention the these two groups of people. Moreover, we do not have any evidence to explain this choice.
B) There is no clue the population overall, but the predicted population of the people from 13 to 55
C) Irrelevant
D) Now, the people belong (13,55) produce more than they did before, we can subtract from the constant number and prove that the people out of (13,55) will produce less than before
E) There is no clue, We do not whether this group produce more or less than those out of (13,55). The argument just compared the garbage production of this group from different times

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A very tricky question.

As already said by experts , these sought of questions have to be solved using mathematical approach.

Initially we are told that people between the ages of 13 and 55 produced more garbage (65 pounds) now than they produced in 1995.

We are also told that "This increase has led them to hold a higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all age groups"

This means before 1995 all three i.e below the age of 13,over the age of 55 and ages between 13 and 55 produced an 'X' Quantity of garbage . In that choice d is saying that combined percentages(%) of below the age of 13 and over the age of 55 was more than the percentage(%) of ages between 13 and 55. .

Hope this helps

Lets consider garbage produce by 13-55 was 10 pounds per year in year 1995
Now this group is producing 10+65 =75 pounds per year.

This increase has led to a higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all age groups.
Lets assume percentage part of garbage produced by 13-55 group = 55%
below 13 = 15%
above 55 = 30%

This age group constitutes a growing percentage of the population.
Lets assume that this trend is continuing from years before 1995... a progressive trend.

so it partially explains this rise.

From provided information I can conclude :

That 13-55 group constituted a growing percentage of population 1992<1993<1994<1995<1996...today... there % is rising.

Even I can conclude that percentage of garbage 13-55 group produced from 1995 to today has increased .. as today 13-55 is producing 65 pounds extra... thus I can say percentage contribution of garbage by other age group was higher in
1995..

garbage produced in % per group:
in 1995 below13=20% 13-55=40% above55=40%
now below13=15% 13-55=55% and above55=30%

From provided information and considering trend in 13-55 % population rise. I am not able to see any definite link, which can confirm that garbage produced in 1994 was not in ratio below13=10% 13-55=80% and above55=10%.. I can take any ratio because provided information doesn't restrict.

Provided data only restrict scenario from 1995 onward. thus, for option D before 1995 we can not confirm anything.

suppose <13 yrs population produces x pounds of garbage in 1995, 13-55 yrs produces Y and >55 yrs produces Z pounds of garbage in 1995. percentage share of each group is <13 yrs : X/(X+Y+Z), 13-55 yrs: Y/(X+Y+Z) and >55 yrs: Z/(X+Y+Z)
Now, Y pounds has increased to Y+65 pounds. So now total garbage becomes X+Y+Z+65,
So if initially X+Y+Z was equal to let say 100%, then now X+Y+Z+65 will correspond to ((X+Y+Z+65) * 100 )/(X+Y+Z). clearly this will be greater than 100%. So this explain that overall percentage has increased.

Now, after increase individual % share will be
<13 yrs : X/(X+Y+65+Z), 13-55 yrs: Y+65/(X+Y+65+Z) and >55 yrs: Z/(X+Y+65+Z)

Clearly share of <13 yrs group and >55 yrs group has decreased than it was in 1995.

So D is correct

Very tricky question.

A. People over the age of 55 produce more garbage than people less than the age of 13. We have no information about the amount of garbage produced by different groups, so this cannot be the answer.

B. Population has risen since 1995. Most probably, but not necessarily. Besides, the argument says that the age group between 13 and 55 constitutes a growing percentage of the population, hence we could assume some other group constitutes decreasing percentage of the population. Which one prevails is of course not clear.

C. People between the age of 13 and 55 are more than half of current population. We don't know the proportions.

D. Before 1995, people below age 13 and above age 55 produced higher percentage of total garbage than they do now. This one is tempting, so at first keep it in and read the last one. From the argument, the age group between 13 and 55 produces now more garbage than it did, meaning it amounts to greater portion of the total garbage than it used to. That implies, that other groups have to produce less - not in absolute amount, but in proportion to the whole population. Hence D is correct.

E. People between the age of 13 and 55 produce more garbage than those below 13 or older than 55. Hm, this one could be true as well, but is not 100% supported by the argument. Let's go back to D.

Hope it's clear.

Recent studies show that people between the ages of 13 and 55 produce 65 pounds more garbage per year than they did in 1995. This increase has led to a higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all the age groups. This age group constitutes a growing percentage of the population, so it partially explains this rise.

1995 1996

<13 a b
13-55 100k 100k+65
>55 c d

This will go on and on for every year 97,98..............
according to ques a+c< b+d+65



Which of the following can be concluded from passage?

A. People over the age of 55 produce more garbage than people less than the age of 13. you have no idea what a & c is or b&d is. which one is greater?? you don't know.
B. Population has risen since 1995. 13-55 age group population is increasing. but other groups might decrease or increase, also there is no correlation given for garbage produced and population
C. People between the age of 13 and 55 are more than half of current population. Again as A, not correct.
D. Before 1995, people below age 13 and above age 55 produced higher percentage of total garbage than they do now.

correct answer as per OA but Incorrect to me
you have data after 1995, you have no idea whatsoever before it. people between the ages of 13 and 55 produce 65 pounds more garbage per year than they produced in 1995 => so our analysis start from year 1995. even if I consider 1995 was less, what if there is one particular year from the beginning of the universe, the garbage was more than what it is produced now


E. People between the age of 13 and 55 produce more garbage than those below 13 or older than 55. Incorrect

"people between the ages of 13 and 55 produce 65 pounds more garbage per year than they did in 1995" + "This age group constitutes a growing percentage of the population" = people between 13 & 55, produce a higher % than before; thus the rest produces a lower % than before.

Choice D paraphrases this conclusion: the rest produces a lower percentage than before = "people below age 13 and above age 55 produced higher percentage of total garbage than they do now"

Population can be divided into 3 classes according to garbage production in the 1995 -

1. People below the age of 13 (a)
2. People between the age of 13 - 55 (b)
3. People above the age of 55 (c)



Now, Total Garbage production in 1995 is - ( a + b + c )
Total Production of garbage now is { a + ( b+65 ) + c }


If we assume that the total garbage production has not increases then we can attribute the higher percentage of garbage production to the people between the age of 13 - 55.

Or, we can say that there is a reduction in garbage production by age group other than people between the age of 13 - 55 , since quantity of Garbage production has not increased...

Among the given options only (D) works perfect.. Hence answer is (D)

I'm no expert, not yet , but here's my view:

A fact cannot be disputed within the context of the argument, whereas all statements that you've highlighted as fact are open to debate. For example, choice B - argument mostly talks in percentage and doesn't mention anything about the # of people. So this statement can be contested.

This is an inference question, so the answer must be true. Never read how many statements one must combine to get to the answer. Can you cite source of your reasoning?

Recent studies show that people between the ages of 13 and 55 produce 65 pounds more garbage per year than they did in 1995. This increase has led to a higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all the age groups. This age group constitutes a growing percentage of the population, so it partially explains this rise.

Type - Inference


A. People over the age of 55 produce more garbage than people less than the age of 13. - Out of scope

B. Population has risen since 1995. - Incorrect - we only know that age group 13-55 constitutes a growing percentage of the population . This scenario can occur even if the population of the other age groups decreases

C. People between the age of 13 and 55 are more than half of current population. - Out of scope

D. Before 1995, people below age 13 and above age 55 produced higher percentage of total garbage than they do now. - Correct

E. People between the age of 13 and 55 produce more garbage than those below 13 or older than 55. - Out of scope

OA- D - Should not the option talk about in 1995 ?

If D is changed to "In 1995, people below age 13 and above age 55 produced higher percentage of total garbage than they do now." , then it makes sense to me. But how can we infer about pre-1995?


AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , egmat , RonPurewal , DmitryFarber , MagooshExpert , ccooley , ChiranjeevSingh, GMATGuruNY , VeritasKarishma , other experts-- please enlighten

I agree that it's misleading to use in 1995 to talk about the entire period before 1995. However, going by the generally poor wording of the question (this increase has led to a higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all the age groups), it might be a good idea to check with a Manhattan instructor if this is actually one of their questions, and if it is, whether it has been reproduced correctly here.

" This increase has led to a higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all the age groups." What does this supposed to mean even? This statement is very poorly structured IMO

how can the increase lead to higher percentage of the total garbage produced by all the age groups?