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BukrsGmat
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 13 Sep 2012, 20:48
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Question Stats:

33% (02:22) correct 67% (02:13) wrong based on 1224 sessions

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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was sterilized by autoclaving, then shredded. This process generated a large quantity of unusable material that ended up in a landfill. In order to reduce its trash this year to half of last year’s total, the hospital has updated its waste removal practices. This year, it will autoclave all waste and then incinerate all non-plastic medical waste. This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half.

Which of the following is required for the updated waste removal program to achieve its aim?

A. This year, the hospital will incinerate all possible materials.

B. The total quantity of medical waste generated at the hospital this year will be no greater than that generated last year.

C. The waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year

D. Medical waste generated by County Hospital will contain a larger proportion of non-plastic waste this year than it did last year.

E. Separating plastic from non-plastic waste will cost the hospital half of what it cost last year to send the waste to landfills.



Need your help. Why is it not B but C. shred word is not mentioned in the second process. Any expert comments?
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C
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KarishmaB
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 13 Sep 2012, 22:19
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was sterilized by autoclaving, then shredded. This process generated a large quantity of unusable material that ended up in a landfill. In order to reduce its trash this year to half of last year’s total, the hospital has updated its waste removal practices. This year, it will autoclave all waste and then incinerate all non-plastic medical waste. This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half.

Which of the following is required for the updated waste removal program to achieve its aim?

A. This year, the hospital will incinerate all possible materials.

B. The total quantity of medical waste generated at the hospital this year will be no greater than that generated last year.

C. The waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year

D. Medical waste generated by County Hospital will contain a larger proportion of non-plastic waste this year than it did last year.

E. Separating plastic from non-plastic waste will cost the hospital half of what it cost last year to send the waste to landfills.



Need your help. Why is it not B but C. shred word is not mentioned in the second process. Any expert comments?
Show more

Responding to a pm:
There are two different things here: 'total waste' and 'waste that is shredded'

Last year, all the waste was shredded and sent to a landfill.
This year, it will incinerate some waste (i.e. burn it so nothing will be left to send to a landfill except some ash perhaps!) and shred the rest (which will be sent to a landfill). It is implied that the rest will be shredded and sent to a landfill even if they haven't mentioned it as such since the last sentence says "This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half. " It means the waste that is not incinerated (i.e. plastic waste) will still be shredded and send to the landfill.

The aim is to decrease the waste sent to landfill by half. The shredded waste is sent to the landfill. This means that the waste shredded this year should be less than the waste shredded last year. Hence (C) is correct.

(B) need not be correct. Even if the total waste this year is more, it is possible that most of it is non plastic and hence is incinerated. It is still possible that the waste sent to the landfill this year is half of last year's.
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 15 Sep 2012, 01:55
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getgyan



Hi Karishma

Option C states that "the waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year". Does not this imply that the weight of waste can be equal or less but not more than last year. If it is equal the hospital wont be able to reduce its waste by half.

I find option B (more) correct than C. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Show more

Look at the question stem: "Which of the following is required for the updated waste removal program to achieve its aim?"

It is a kind of 'must be true' question. Which of the following is required...

The aim of the hospital is that the weight of the shredded waste this year should be half of the weight of shredded waste last year. For this to happen, it is necessary that the weight of the shredded weight this year be less than the weight of the shredded waste last year.
It is something like 'if I want T to be half of L, it is necessary that T must be less than L' - It is necessary, not sufficient.

Hence option (C) is correct.

As for B, we don't necessarily need it to be true.
"The total quantity of medical waste generated at the hospital this year will be no greater than that generated last year."

Look at the following scenario:
Last year: Total waste - 100 ton, shredded waste - 100 ton
This year: Total waste 110 ton, incinerated waste - 60 ton, shredded waste - 50 ton
Hence the aim can still be met even if the total quantity of medical waste generated at the hospital this year is greater than that generated last year.
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 14 Sep 2012, 02:22
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VeritasPrepKarishma
sujit2k7
Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was sterilized by autoclaving, then shredded. This process generated a large quantity of unusable material that ended up in a landfill. In order to reduce its trash this year to half of last year’s total, the hospital has updated its waste removal practices. This year, it will autoclave all waste and then incinerate all non-plastic medical waste. This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half.

Which of the following is required for the updated waste removal program to achieve its aim?

A. This year, the hospital will incinerate all possible materials.

B. The total quantity of medical waste generated at the hospital this year will be no greater than that generated last year.

C. The waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year

D. Medical waste generated by County Hospital will contain a larger proportion of non-plastic waste this year than it did last year.

E. Separating plastic from non-plastic waste will cost the hospital half of what it cost last year to send the waste to landfills.



Need your help. Why is it not B but C. shred word is not mentioned in the second process. Any expert comments?

Responding to a pm:
There are two different things here: 'total waste' and 'waste that is shredded'

Last year, all the waste was shredded and sent to a landfill.
This year, it will incinerate some waste (i.e. burn it so nothing will be left to send to a landfill except some ash perhaps!) and shred the rest (which will be sent to a landfill). It is implied that the rest will be shredded and sent to a landfill even if they haven't mentioned it as such since the last sentence says "This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half. " It means the waste that is not incinerated (i.e. plastic waste) will still be shredded and send to the landfill.

The aim is to decrease the waste sent to landfill by half. The shredded waste is sent to the landfill. This means that the waste shredded this year should be less than the waste shredded last year. Hence (C) is correct.

(B) need not be correct. Even if the total waste this year is more, it is possible that most of it is non plastic and hence is incinerated. It is still possible that the waste sent to the landfill this year is half of last year's.
Show more

Hi Karishma

Option C states that "the waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year". Does not this imply that the weight of waste can be equal or less but not more than last year. If it is equal the hospital wont be able to reduce its waste by half.

I find option B (more) correct than C. Please correct me if I am wrong.
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 25 Sep 2012, 02:40
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Responding to a pm:

Yes, it is not mentioned that this year, the plastic waste will be shredded but it is kind of implied, isn't it? Shredded waste is sent to landfill. To halve the waste sent to landfill, the shredded waste must be halved. They have just told you how they will halve it - by incinerating the non plastic waste. Isn't it implied that the plastic waste will still be shredded and sent to the landfill?
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 25 Sep 2012, 03:02
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VeritasPrepKarishma
Responding to a pm:

Yes, it is not mentioned that this year, the plastic waste will be shredded but it is kind of implied, isn't it? Shredded waste is sent to landfill. To halve the waste sent to landfill, the shredded waste must be halved. They have just told you how they will halve it - by incinerating the non plastic waste. Isn't it implied that the plastic waste will still be shredded and sent to the landfill?
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I think you are vey true as it is mentioned that they are going to reduce the trash hence trash = shreded waste
but i think this is a grey area in gmat where the inexpeirenced test takers can be foxed
thanks any way
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 25 Feb 2015, 08:22
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was sterilized by autoclaving, then shredded. This process generated a large quantity of unusable material that ended up in a landfill. In order to reduce its trash this year to half of last year’s total, the hospital has updated its waste removal practices. This year, it will autoclave all waste and then incinerate all non-plastic medical waste. This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half.

Which of the following is required for the updated waste removal program to achieve its aim?

A. This year, the hospital will incinerate all possible materials.

B. The total quantity of medical waste generated at the hospital this year will be no greater than that generated last year.

C. The waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year

D. Medical waste generated by County Hospital will contain a larger proportion of non-plastic waste this year than it did last year.

E. Separating plastic from non-plastic waste will cost the hospital half of what it cost last year to send the waste to landfills.



Need your help. Why is it not B but C. shred word is not mentioned in the second process. Any expert comments?

Responding to a pm:
There are two different things here: 'total waste' and 'waste that is shredded'

Last year, all the waste was shredded and sent to a landfill.
This year, it will incinerate some waste (i.e. burn it so nothing will be left to send to a landfill except some ash perhaps!) and shred the rest (which will be sent to a landfill). It is implied that the rest will be shredded and sent to a landfill even if they haven't mentioned it as such since the last sentence says "This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half. " It means the waste that is not incinerated (i.e. plastic waste) will still be shredded and send to the landfill.

The aim is to decrease the waste sent to landfill by half. The shredded waste is sent to the landfill. This means that the waste shredded this year should be less than the waste shredded last year. Hence (C) is correct.

(B) need not be correct. Even if the total waste this year is more, it is possible that most of it is non plastic and hence is incinerated. It is still possible that the waste sent to the landfill this year is half of last year's.
Show more

While I am sure option B is wrong. Why option D is wrong?
Let's assume this scenario:
Last year: 100 tons of all materials shredded
This year: 90 tons shredded and 10 tons incinerated (non-plastic).
in this example, option C is satisfied (thinking about it, most examples will be satisfied). but yet, we can only decrease the waste sent to landfill by 10%.

But option D is saying that this year non-plastic will have larger proportion (50% and above) which is more correct to say to reduce it by half. No matter how varied the weight of the materials, option D will decrease the waste sent to landfill by 50%.
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 25 Feb 2015, 20:23
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antztheman


While I am sure option B is wrong. Why option D is wrong?
Let's assume this scenario:
Last year: 100 tons of all materials shredded
This year: 90 tons shredded and 10 tons incinerated (non-plastic).
in this example, option C is satisfied (thinking about it, most examples will be satisfied). but yet, we can only decrease the waste sent to landfill by 10%.

But option D is saying that this year non-plastic will have larger proportion (50% and above) which is more correct to say to reduce it by half. No matter how varied the weight of the materials, option D will decrease the waste sent to landfill by 50%.
Show more

(D) says "WAste will contain a larger proportion of non-plastic waste this year than it did last year."

This needn't be true. Non plastic waste should be more than 50% for the plan to work but what if it was already more than 50% last year? The comparison is with last year and hence it needn't be true. If last year plastic waste was say 60%, if it is 60% this year too, plan may still work. (D) is not necessary for the plan to work.
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 25 Aug 2017, 10:33
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was sterilized by autoclaving, then shredded. This process generated a large quantity of unusable material that ended up in a landfill. In order to reduce its trash this year to half of last year’s total, the hospital has updated its waste removal practices. This year, it will autoclave all waste and then incinerate all non-plastic medical waste. This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half.

Which of the following is required for the updated waste removal program to achieve its aim?

A. This year, the hospital will incinerate all possible materials. -This can be inferred from the argument. Its not an assumption.

B. The total quantity of medical waste generated at the hospital this year will be no greater than that generated last year. -Total may be equal or less than what it was last year, but the proportion of waste shredded can be larger than it was last year.

C. The waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year -This is not exactly 100% correct, but it is best of the worst. It essentially says that the quantity of shredded waste sent to landfill this year is less than or EQUAL to the quantity of waste sent to landfill last year. "Equal" is not exactly making it a correct answer, however all other options are very irrelevant.

D. Medical waste generated by County Hospital will contain a larger proportion of non-plastic waste this year than it did last year. -It may contain a larger proportion of non-plastic waste but the amount of waste shredded can be greater than that was shredded last year.

E. Separating plastic from non-plastic waste will cost the hospital half of what it cost last year to send the waste to landfills. -We are not worried about the cost.
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 28 Sep 2017, 02:04
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Hi Karishma,

I have one question regarding Option C,

The waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year

This need not be true. Say, weight of shredded last year be 100 tons, but total number of shredded items can be 100.
This year, total weight can be more than 100 tons, say 120 tons, but still total number of shredded items can be 80.

Question stem says, about number of items filling the landfill to be reduced to half, a item can weigh heavy can still occupy less space.

This is the exact reason, i rejected C. Can you please help

Thanks
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 28 Sep 2017, 03:25
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hellosanthosh2k2
Hi Karishma,

I have one question regarding Option C,

The waste shredded this year will weigh no more than the waste shredded last year

This need not be true. Say, weight of shredded last year be 100 tons, but total number of shredded items can be 100.
This year, total weight can be more than 100 tons, say 120 tons, but still total number of shredded items can be 80.

Question stem says, about number of items filling the landfill to be reduced to half, a item can weigh heavy can still occupy less space.

This is the exact reason, i rejected C. Can you please help

Thanks
Show more

Number of items shredded has no relevance since the waste is mentioned in terms of tonnage only.
Note: This should decrease the number of tons of waste sent to the landfill by half
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 26 Dec 2023, 14:49
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A good copy of an official GMAT question - shelbyville city and quantity of residual ash check - good question check that out too.

B)- Incorrect- they just say the waste that goes to landfill will be half - we do not know if the one that can be burned more or the one that cannot be burned will be more. That is hospital's estimate and we are not provided info to infer.

C) if the shredded waste weighs more than last year obviously reaching the equal to half of waste from last year is going to be more difficult - CORRECT>
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Last year, all of the medical waste at County Hospital was 07 Jan 2025, 21:03
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Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

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