A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided : Critical Reasoning (CR)

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mikemcgarry

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

06 Mar 2015, 11:27

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vinyasgupta wrote:

Hi mikemcgarry ,
Can Please someone help me understand what the question is asking

Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:

what does the "EXCEPT" written in the question means?

doesn't this means that:
each of the following would provide support for the publisher's decision,except the choice x which will not support it
So we are asked to support the conclusion in the argument rather than the publisher's decision

please help

Dear vinyasgupta
I'm happy to respond. :-)

On an ordinary GMAT CR question, one choice correctly answers the question posed, and four choices are faulty in one way or another. The EXCEPT questions are very different. In a GMAT CR EXCEPT question, four of the choices will flawlessly answer the question, and only one will not. The anti-intuitive thing is that you have to reject all the choices that perfectly answer the question, and find that one that is faulty in one way or another.

Here's the prompt again for this question:
A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided to spend a significant portion of its remaining cash on a shipment of recycled paper pulp that can be used to make paper for a future book. Even though the published book will earn more than the cost of the materials it is printed on, this is a financially foolish decision. The publisher owns rights to tracks of forest land that could be legally cut for pulp at a cost lower than that of the recycled paper pulp.

Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:
This tells us that four answer choices will provide clear unambiguous support to the publisher's decision; those four will not be the answer to the EXCEPT question. The remaining choice will not support the publisher's decision --- it may be ambiguous, it may support something else, it may be 100% irrelevant, etc. There are many possibilities. All we know about the correct answer to the EXCEPT question is that it will be the one answer that doesn't provide clear support to the publisher's decision.

Here's an article about the analogous question in RC:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-readi ... ng-except/

Mike :-)

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

06 Mar 2015, 11:34

mikemcgarry wrote:

vinyasgupta wrote:

Hi mikemcgarry ,
Can Please someone help me understand what the question is asking

Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:

what does the "EXCEPT" written in the question means?

doesn't this means that:
each of the following would provide support for the publisher's decision,except the choice x which will not support it
So we are asked to support the conclusion in the argument rather than the publisher's decision

please help

Dear vinyasgupta
I'm happy to respond. :-)

On an ordinary GMAT CR question, one choice correctly answers the question posed, and four choices are faulty in one way or another. The EXCEPT questions are very different. In a GMAT CR EXCEPT question, four of the choices will flawlessly answer the question, and only one will not. The anti-intuitive thing is that you have to reject all the choices that perfectly answer the question, and find that one that is faulty in one way or another.

Here's the prompt again for this question:
A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided to spend a significant portion of its remaining cash on a shipment of recycled paper pulp that can be used to make paper for a future book. Even though the published book will earn more than the cost of the materials it is printed on, this is a financially foolish decision. The publisher owns rights to tracks of forest land that could be legally cut for pulp at a cost lower than that of the recycled paper pulp.

Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:
This tells us that four answer choices will provide clear unambiguous support to the publisher's decision; those four will not be the answer to the EXCEPT question. The remaining choice will not support the publisher's decision --- it may be ambiguous, it may support something else, it may be 100% irrelevant, etc. There are many possibilities. All we know about the correct answer to the EXCEPT question is that it will be the one answer that doesn't provide clear support to the publisher's decision.

Here's an article about the analogous question in RC:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-readi ... ng-except/

Mike :-)

Thank you so much mikemcgarry for the help.Now i clearly understand why is A the OA.

VINYAS :-D

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

06 Mar 2015, 22:35

mikemcgarry wrote:

PraPon wrote:

A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided to spend a significant portion of its remaining cash on a shipment of recycled paper pulp that can be used to make paper for a future book. Even though the published book will earn more than the cost of the materials it is printed on, this is a financially foolish decision. The publisher owns rights to tracks of forest land that could be legally cut for pulp at a cost lower than that of the recycled paper pulp.

Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:

I'm happy to help with this. :-)

Naively, it seems that the publisher is making an unwise decision -- spending its limited funds on recycled paper rather than using the lower cost legally cut pulp from its own forest. We are asked to strengthen the publisher's decision, to provide support for it. This would come in the form of some additional source of revenue doing it this way, or some additional cost in doing it the other way.

(A) Federal law requires that timber land that is cut be reseeded to re-grow the forest and this cost is included in the cost to cut the trees for pulp.
This is tricky --- yes, there's a reseeding cost, but this is already included in the cost of the pulp. Even though the choice discusses an extra cost, there's no addition cost to the publisher beyond what is already discussed in the question. Therefore, this information doesn't change anything from the financial arrangements discussed in the prompt. It's not clear that this does anything to strengthen or weaken anything from the original prompt.

(B) The paper mill used by the publisher works much more efficiently with the short strands of recycled pulp than it does with the long strands of newly cut pulp, saving the publisher money on the rental of the mill facility.
This points out a savings that would result from the publisher's chosen course, which supports why the publisher chose it. This is not correct.

(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper
This points out a possible cost attached to pursing the path the publisher didn't chose, which supports why the publisher chose the path they did. This is not correct.

(D) The publisher's forest is far from its paper mill, and transportation costs are not included in cost of cutting trees for pulp.
This points out a possible cost attached to pursing the path the publisher didn't chose, which supports why the publisher chose the path they did. This is not correct.

(E) The publisher will sell the rights to the forest land for more than the difference in price between purchased recycled pulp and pulp from newly cut trees.
This points out a source of income that will more than compensate for the apparent cost in the path the publisher choose. This supports the publisher's decision, so this is incorrect.

Because (A) doesn't provide any clear support, and because (B)-(E) all supply very clear support, (A) is the best possible answer here.

Mike :-)

Hi Mike,

Could you please debrief on reasons to eliminate C .
(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper.
How will the buyers know that the book is printed on recycle/new paper ? is it safe to assume that publisher will write it on cover page that this book is made of recycled pulp so that buyers know they are buying a book printed on recycle pulp.?
I found this option really weird as this option suggest that the content of the book is least important than the paper used to print the book and so choose C .

thanks
Lucky.

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

08 Mar 2015, 19:33

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Lucky2783 wrote:

Hi Mike,

Could you please debrief on reasons to eliminate C .
(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper.
How will the buyers know that the book is printed on recycle/new paper ? is it safe to assume that publisher will write it on cover page that this book is made of recycled pulp so that buyers know they are buying a book printed on recycle pulp.?
I found this option really weird as this option suggest that the content of the book is least important than the paper used to print the book and so choose C .

thanks
Lucky.

Dear Lucky,
I'm happy to respond. :-)

Here's where we have to be careful with GMAT CR. Again, here's the prompt question:
Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:
and here's the text of (C).
(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper.
We have to take this at face value, as evidence. The new book will have poor sales. Why will it have poor sales? We don't necessary know. If this is true, if it is true that the new book will have poor sales, would that support the publisher's decision.

If it is true, then yes, this one book would have better sales if it is printed on recycled paper. More sales is good for the publisher, so that would be one reason---not necessarily the only reason or the best reason but at least one valid reason---that the publisher would choose to take the action it is taking.

You are asking questions about why this would be true. Understand, that is strictly outside the task on GMAT CR. If we are asked to treat something as true, then it's not our concern about why it would be true.

How would the fact that the book is printed on recycled paper reduce sales? Well, yes, maybe there would be a label on the front cover, "printed on recycled paper," or maybe it would be trumpeted somehow in the way they promote the book. We can speculate, but this is outside the task of answering the question.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)

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A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

10 Mar 2015, 03:09

mikemcgarry wrote:

Lucky2783 wrote:

Hi Mike,

Could you please debrief on reasons to eliminate C .
(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper.
How will the buyers know that the book is printed on recycle/new paper ? is it safe to assume that publisher will write it on cover page that this book is made of recycled pulp so that buyers know they are buying a book printed on recycle pulp.?
I found this option really weird as this option suggest that the content of the book is least important than the paper used to print the book and so choose C .

thanks
Lucky.

Dear Lucky,
I'm happy to respond. :-)

Here's where we have to be careful with GMAT CR. Again, here's the prompt question:
Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:
and here's the text of (C).
(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper.
We have to take this at face value, as evidence. The new book will have poor sales. Why will it have poor sales? We don't necessary know. If this is true, if it is true that the new book will have poor sales, would that support the publisher's decision.

If it is true, then yes, this one book would have better sales if it is printed on recycled paper. More sales is good for the publisher, so that would be one reason---not necessarily the only reason or the best reason but at least one valid reason---that the publisher would choose to take the action it is taking.

You are asking questions about why this would be true. Understand, that is strictly outside the task on GMAT CR. If we are asked to treat something as true, then it's not our concern about why it would be true.

How would the fact that the book is printed on recycled paper reduce sales? Well, yes, maybe there would be a label on the front cover, "printed on recycled paper," or maybe it would be trumpeted somehow in the way they promote the book. We can speculate, but this is outside the task of answering the question.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)

Great explanation . Thanks so much .
Having Instructors like you, who give their personal time to reply queries of students, on gmatclub is really a fortune for students.

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

11 Mar 2015, 08:50

Answer is A.
Reseeding cost is included in the cost to cut the trees, and the cutting cost is already considered in the argument.

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

22 Mar 2015, 02:35

Hey mikemcgarry
I am not able to understand the explanation-there's a reseeding cost, but this is already included in the cost of the pulp. Even though the choice discusses an extra cost, there's no addition cost to the publisher beyond what is already discussed in the question.
"The publisher has track of the forest"-is this the reason from which you have derived the above statement?

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A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

23 Mar 2015, 13:15

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ssriva2 wrote:

Hey mikemcgarry
I am not able to understand the explanation-there's a reseeding cost, but this is already included in the cost of the pulp. Even though the choice discusses an extra cost, there's no addition cost to the publisher beyond what is already discussed in the question.
"The publisher has track of the forest"-is this the reason from which you have derived the above statement?

Dear ssriva2,
I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, I deduced that directly from the information in choice (A). It's very important to read and analyze what is said in the choices. Here's choice (A) again:
(A) Federal law requires that timber land that is cut be reseeded to re-grow the forest and this cost is included in the cost to cut the trees for pulp.
Think about what this says. It presents two different facts:
Fact #1: Federal law requires that timber land that is cut be reseeded to re-grow the forest ...
So, the government says, if I do the work of cutting down trees to use for something, I also have to do the work of reseeding the ground so that a forest eventually grows back. Cutting down trees certainly costs money, and naively, it sounds as the separate work of reseeding the land would also cost money and therefore would increase the cost.
But, then we are told:
Fact #2:... and this cost is included in the cost to cut the trees for pulp.
Ah, as it turns out, the cost of the second job, the job of reseeding, does not present an additional cost. In the cost design here, the cost of reseeding has already been factored in an included in the cost of cutting the trees down.
In the prompt, we are told:
The publisher owns rights to tracks of forest land that could be legally cut for pulp at a cost lower than that of the recycled paper pulp.
(cost of cutting trees) < (cost of recycled paper pulp)
Now, if the seeding added a new cost to the left side of that inequality, it might change the direction of the inequality, calling the evidence of the argument into question. BUT, because seeding is already included in the "cost of cutting trees" and introduces no new expenses, the inequality remains undisturbed by the information in choice (A).

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

24 Mar 2015, 08:38

Thanks mike..
I think i need to read the answer choices very carefully!

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

30 Jan 2016, 22:26

A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided to spend a significant portion of its remaining cash on a shipment of recycled paper pulp that can be used to make paper for a future book. Even though the published book will earn more than the cost of the materials it is printed on, this is a financially foolish decision. The publisher owns rights to tracks of forest land that could be legally cut for pulp at a cost lower than that of the recycled paper pulp.

publisher goes for recycled pulp whereas cutting forest trees can be economical.

Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:

(A) Federal law requires that timber land that is cut be reseeded to re-grow the forest and this cost is included in the cost to cut the trees for pulp.............this explains why it is not costly to go for forest option and the cost of obtaining raw material from forest is cheaper than that of recycled pulp. This weakens publisher decision and supports the argument. Correct answer.

(B) The paper mill used by the publisher works much more efficiently with the short strands of recycled pulp than it does with the long strands of newly cut pulp, saving the publisher money on the rental of the mill facility...........This explains and supports the publisher decision.

(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper.........valid reason to go for recycled paper.

(D) The publisher's forest is far from its paper mill, and transportation costs are not included in cost of cutting trees for pulp...........thus the cost of forest option will turn out more than initially expected as per the argument.

(E) The publisher will sell the rights to the forest land for more than the difference in price between purchased recycled pulp and pulp from newly cut trees............publisher will have more profit in going for recycled pulp and selling forest land rights than going for forest tree cutting alone. This supports his plan.

P

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

14 Dec 2017, 01:22

mikemcgarry
hi, I really need your advice. Is this question too much for gmat? I feel so. The question is too long even though the patterns in this question are clear. It takes me 4 min to find the right answer.
I did do a quick research on google, and I found that this question seems to come from crack verbal, an unreliable source.

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

14 Dec 2017, 15:12

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chesstitans wrote:

mikemcgarry
hi, I really need your advice. Is this question too much for gmat? I feel so. The question is too long even though the patterns in this question are clear. It takes me 4 min to find the right answer.
I did do a quick research on google, and I found that this question seems to come from crack verbal, an unreliable source.

Dear chesstitans,

I'm happy to respond.

The short answer is: yes, a question of this length & complexity could be on the GMAT. It's a bit on the long side, but there are some CR questions in the OG that are about as long as this.

Regardless of the source, the question is basically solid. I will say that (C) sounds a little sketchy--if we assume it's true, we can eliminate it clearly, but it's far from clear to me that this actually would be true in the real world. There's a rigorous realism to the official questions: if we have to assume something is true, there's a very good chance that this is actually true in the real business world. In terms of the niceties of a question, this falls short of the lofty standards of the official questions; nevertheless, the basic logic is clear.

Yes, especially if intend to achieve a high verbal score, then be prepared to deal with multiple CR arguments as long and as complicated as this.

Does this make sense?
Mike

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

09 Aug 2019, 11:13

A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided to spend a significant portion of its remaining cash on a shipment of recycled paper pulp that can be used to make paper for a future book. Even though the published book will earn more than the cost of the materials it is printed on, this is a financially foolish decision. The publisher owns rights to tracks of forest land that could be legally cut for pulp at a cost lower than that of the recycled paper pulp.

Each of the following, if true, would provide support for the publisher's decision, EXCEPT:
(A) Federal law requires that timber land that is cut be reseeded to re-grow the forest and this cost is included in the cost to cut the trees for pulp. (Correct)
(B) The paper mill used by the publisher works much more efficiently with the short strands of recycled pulp than it does with the long strands of newly cut pulp, saving the publisher money on the rental of the mill facility.
(C) The new book will be about recycling and will therefore have poor sales if it is not printed on recycled paper.
(D) The publisher's forest is far from its paper mill, and transportation costs are not included in cost of cutting trees for pulp.
(E) The publisher will sell the rights to the forest land for more than the difference in price between purchased recycled pulp and pulp from newly cut trees.

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

20 Mar 2023, 14:56

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Re: A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided [#permalink]

20 Mar 2023, 14:56

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

A financially strapped publisher of books recently decided