Editorial: Consumers in North America think that by drinking frozen

Question Type: Strengthen

Main Point: Energy required to concentrate orange juice > Difference between the energy required to transport the 2 different juices.
We should provide additional support to the above point.

A. Freezer trucks use substantially more energy per mile driven than do any other types of trucks. - Correct. More energy is lost to transport the frozen concentrated orange juice. Hence energy required for concentrated orange juice >> Transportation energy difference.

B. Frozen juice can be stored for several years, while not-from-concentrate juice lasts a much shorter time. - Incorrect. Out of scope.

C. Oranges grown in Brazil make up an increasing percentage of the fruit used in not-from-concentrate juice production. - Incorrect. Irrelevant.

D. A serving of not-from-concentrate juice takes up to six times more space than a serving of frozen concentrated juice. - Incorrect. Irrelevant.

E. Though frozen concentrated juice must be kept at a lower temperature, not-from-concentrate juice is far more sensitive to small temperature fluctuations. - Incorrect. This statement again doesn't provide any information about the energy required.

Answer: A

@gmatninja, Experts,

Could you please explain why A is correct ?
The question mentions '"amount of energy required to *concentrate*"but not freeze whereas the transport part involved the freezing bit also.

I selected A on this one as the option gave clear idea about more energy needed to transport "COJ" per mile, however, one could have fallen for option B as well "(B) Frozen juice can be stored for several years, while not-from-concentrate juice lasts a much shorter time."

GMATNinja, Experts, Pls guide if my reasoning is correct:-
Option B is wrong because (1) Frozen juice can be stored - can does not mean necessarily the energy required to conserve is more. Whatif "COJ" is consumed in less time. (2) The option does not specifically mention anything relating to "energy" hence we cannot assume anything here.

Pls provide your inputs about option B


We are looking for an answer that SUPPORTS the conclusion, which is that [consumers in NA who think that they are saving energy by drinking frozen concentrated OJ] are mistaken.

The editorial discusses two factors: transportation energy and concentration energy. Some consumers think concentrated OJ uses less energy because fewer truckloads are needed to transport it. This is evidence that concentrated OJ has lower transportation costs than non-concentrated OJ. However, the author claims that the energy required to concentrate the OJ is greater than the energy saved by using fewer trucks for transportation. In other words, the apparent energy savings related to transportation are outweighed by the energy need to concentrate the OJ.

According to some consumers, concentrated OJ uses less transportation energy than non-concentrated OJ because fewer truckloads are needed to transport it. However, if the trucks needed to transport frozen, concentrated OJ use more energy per mile than other types of trucks, the apparent savings in transportation energy might not be that great. This is evidence that the apparent energy savings related to transportation might not be as high as the NA consumers think. This supports the author's conclusion that those consumers are mistaken.[/quote]

Hi,

Thank You for the posts. GMATNinja, I need help in understanding the first answer choice.

Aren't we making an assumption here that frozen concentrated juice required freezer trick and non from concentrate juice requires non freezer trucks? Please let me know if it okay to make such an assumption.

And I also wanted to understand does not from concentrate means fresh orange juice that people can extract at their home. ( Does it technically means we are just transporting oranges)

Please let me know.

Thank You
Sonal

Regarding answer choice (A): the passage contrasts the amount of truckloads required to transport "frozen concentrated orange juice" to the truckloads required for "not-from-concentrate juice." From this, we know that the concentrated OJ is frozen before it’s transported, so it is completely reasonable to assume that freezer trucks are required for concentrated OJ, and other types of trucks are used for not-from-concentrate OJ.

For a more thorough breakdown of answer choice (A), please see this post.

Along the same lines, the passage contrasts two different types of juice, so we know that the "not-from-concentrate" product is orange juice, not actual oranges.

I hope this helps!

Hi,
I marked A only because it was the best amongst the rest but I still do not agree with A being correct. As you, GMATNinja ,mentioned in your reply that the saving is not AS great AS the people of NA think, means that there is still some level of saving. Wouldn’t it actually weaken the author’s conclusion?

Posted from my mobile device

Dear GMATNinja and VeritasKarishma,

I have one question on choice A.

Why does choice A add any new information?

According to the last statement in the passage, the amount of energy required to concentrate the juice is far greater than the energy difference in the juices’ transport. Here "the energy difference in the juices' transport" already takes into account the fact that concentrated juice has to be transported by fewer freezer trucks.

I think "the energy difference in the juices' transport" = distance * (#normal trucks - #freezer trucks) * (cost per mile of normal trucks - cost per mile of freezer trucks)

Here both the number and cost per mile are already accounted for.

Thank you in advance!

Argument:
- People think that by drinking frozen concentrated orange juice, they are saving energy, because it takes fewer truckloads to transport it.
- But they are mistaken because the amount of energy required to concentrate the juice is far greater than the energy difference in the juices’ transport (from context, we know that it is the difference mentioned above of fewer truckloads that people think about.)

The entire argument is about what people think and how they are mistaken.

Highlighted part is the conclusion of the argument.

(A) Freezer trucks use substantially more energy per mile driven than do any other types of trucks.

Frozen concentrated juice needs even more energy because freezer trucks use more energy per mile. So it strengthens that people are mistaken. They are not saving energy by consuming frozen concentrated juice.

(B) Frozen juice can be stored for several years, while not-from-concentrate juice lasts a much shorter time.

Doest help our "frozen juice does not save energy" argument.

(C) Oranges grown in Brazil make up an increasing percentage of the fruit used in not-from-concentrate juice production.

Irrelevant.

(D) A serving of not-from-concentrate juice takes up to six times more space than a serving of frozen concentrated juice.

Doest help our "frozen juice does not save energy" argument.

(E) Though frozen concentrated juice must be kept at a lower temperature, not-from-concentrate juice is far more sensitive to small temperature fluctuations.

Doest help our "frozen juice does not save energy" argument.

Answer (A)­

The consumers believe that drinking frozen concentrated OJ saves energy for a very particular reason: "because it takes fewer truckloads to transport it than it takes to transport an equivalent amount of not-from-concentrate juice. "

The author of the editorial thinks the consumers are mistaken for another very particular reason: "the amount of energy required to concentrate the juice is far greater than the energy difference in the juices’ transport."

The editorial essentially concedes the point that less energy is used in transporting concentrated OJ, but then concludes that consumers are nevertheless mistaken for a completely unrelated reason -- the energy used to concentrate the OJ.

(A) introduces a new factor that impacts the energy used in transporting the OJ. The editorial has NOT accounted for this additional factor -- as described above, the editorial concludes that consumers are mistaken about overall energy savings even if they are right about the energy used in transportation!

The information in (A) casts doubt on the consumers' belief that transporting concentrated OJ requires less energy than transporting not-from-concentrate juice. Even if transporting concentrated OJ requires fewer trucks, those trucks "use substantially more energy per mile driven than do any other types of trucks."

The editorial's argument WITHOUT (A) is that consumers are mistaken because:

• they did not account for the energy required to concentrate juice.

The editorial's argument WITH (A) is that consumers are mistaken because:

• they did not account for the energy required to concentrate juice AND
• they did not account for the additional energy required to transport concentrated juice in freezer trucks.

I hope that helps!

Understanding the Passage


Editorial: Consumers in North America think that by drinking frozen concentrated orange juice, they are saving energy,


As per an editorial:
The consumers in North America believe that they are saving energy by drinking frozen concentrated orange juice.


because it takes fewer truckloads to transport it than it takes to transport an equivalent amount of not-from-concentrate juice.
Their belief is based on:
Fewer truckloads are required to transport the frozen juice than would be required to transport the same amount of not-from-concentrate juice.


But they are mistaken, for the amount of energy required to concentrate the juice is far greater than the energy difference in the juices’ transport


But the consumers are wrong to believe that they are saving energy.
The amount of energy needed to make the concentrated juice is much greater than the energy saved on the transportation of the juices.


Conclusion

Energy is not saved by drinking frozen concentrated orange juice because more energy is consumed while producing concentrates of the juice than while transporting the same.


Pre-Thinking


if a statement indicates that energy consumed during transport of concentrated juice is not significantly lower than that of not-from-concentrate juice, then such a statement will strengthen the author’s stance that opting for concentrated juice will not lead to an overall reduction in energy consumption.



(A) Freezer trucks use substantially more energy per mile driven than do any other types of trucks.

This choice indicates that the energy consumption is higher for the transportation of frozen concentrated juices than for the not-from-concentrate and therefore not frozen juice.

The argument already tells us that the energy consumption for the production of concentrated juices is higher.

So, all in all, this statement strengthens the author’s stance.

Thus, this is the correct answer choice.

Strengthener


if a statement indicates that energy consumed during transport of concentrated juice is not significantly lower than that of not-from-concentrate juice, then such a statement will strengthen the author’s stance that opting for concentrated juice will not lead to an overall reduction in energy consumption.




Choice A


This choice indicates that the energy consumption is higher for the transportation of frozen concentrated juices than for the not-from-concentrate and therefore not frozen juice.

The argument already tells us that the energy consumption for the production of concentrated juices is higher.

So, all in all, this statement strengthens the author’s stance.

Thus, this is the correct answer choice.

Hey



Allow us to clear your confusion.


Strengthener


if a statement indicates that energy consumed during transport of concentrated juice is not significantly lower than that of not-from-concentrate juice, then such a statement will strengthen the author’s stance that opting for concentrated juice will not lead to an overall reduction in energy consumption.




Choice A


This choice indicates that the energy consumption is higher for the transportation of frozen concentrated juices than for the not-from-concentrate and therefore not frozen juice.

The argument already tells us that the energy consumption for the production of concentrated juices is higher.

So, all in all, this statement strengthens the author’s stance.

Thus, this is the correct answer choice.



Choice D


This is the advantage of frozen juice over the other type from the perspective of serving/packaging and not from the point of energy saving.

Thus, this is not the correct choice.


Thanks

GMATNinja

When I saw the question "Which of the following, if true, would provide the greatest additional support for the editorial's conclusion?", I looked for an answer choice that is related to the editorial's conclusion/argument as a WHOLE.

The editorial's argument is "But they are mistaken, for the amount of energy required to concentrate the juice is far greater than the energy difference in the juices' transport"

Here, I would expect to see an answer choice that is related to the boldface, because the boldface is the real reasoning.
For example, I would be happy to see an answer choice like this:
(F) Concentrating the juice requires a special equipment that uses too much electricity (energy).

In my opinion, an answer choice like (F) would support the editorial's argument as a WHOLE. (similar to many CR questions, in which one needs to support the author's argument as a whole in strengthen problems)

On the other hand, in my opinion, (A) only supports the editorial's argument/conclusion PARTLY (please see boldface below), because "concentrate the juice" does not play a role at all. In other words, if we remove it ("concentrate the juice") from the passage, the question and the answer choices would remain exactly the same, as if we do not need "concentrate the juice" reasoning at all.
("But they are mistaken, for the amount of energy required to concentrate the juice is far greater than the energy difference in the juices' transport" )

Any comments on this?

The editorial’s conclusion is that consumers in NA are mistaken to think that they are saving energy by drinking frozen concentrated orange juice. The question asks that we find an answer choice that provides the greatest additional support for that conclusion.

“Additional support” for the conclusion does not necessarily mean the best answer choice will strengthen the existing evidence. It’s possible that the best answer choice will simply provide an additional reason to believe the conclusion. In this case, (A) gives us more reason to believe that drinking frozen concentrated orange juice is not saving energy. So, it is the best answer choice, regardless of other possible answer choices we could come up with.

I hope that helps!

Doesn't the explanation for A involve an assumption that concentrated juice requires refrigeration whereas not-from-concentrate juice does not require refrigeration? GMATNinja Can you clarify this?

Thanks.

Can someone help me understand that reasoning behind the explanation given in OG2019 about the invalidity of option D?

There is nowhere mentioned in the passage that the juices needs to be kept cold until ready to drink. Am is missing something?

Check out this post for a discussion of this very issue, and this post for further thoughts on answer choice (A).

Keep in mind that the explanations in the OG are not written by the same people who develop the questions, and the quality of the explanations varies greatly.

In the passage, we first hear about the "consumers in North America." These consumers:

• conclude that they are saving energy by drinking frozen concentrated OJ
• support this conclusion with the fact that it takes fewer truckloads to transport frozen concentrated OJ

Then, the author argues against these consumers, saying that they are NOT saving energy by drinking frozen concentrated OJ. Our job is to provide additional support for the AUTHOR'S argument (against the consumers).

Here's (D):
(D) confirms that the support for the consumers' argument is valid. The consumers think that it takes fewer trucks to transport frozen concentrated OJ, and sure enough, frozen OJ is up to six times more compact than not-from-concentrate OJ.

So, if anything, (D) provides additional support for the consumer's argument. Because we're looking to support the author's argument AGAINST the consumer's argument, (D) is essentially the opposite of what we want.

Eliminate (D).

I hope that helps!