Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper

Question

Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper pulp if the paper made from the pulp is to look white. Without such filler, paper products look grayish. To make writing paper that looks white from recycled paper requires more filler than is required to make such paper from other sources. Therefore, barring the more efficient use of fillers in paper manufacturing or the development of paper-whitening technologies that do not require mineral fillers, if writing paper made from recycled paper comes to replace other types of writing paper,paper manufacturers will have to use more filler than they now use.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A) Certain kinds of paper cannot be manufactured from recycled paper.
(B) The fillers that are used to make paper white are harmful to the environment.
(C) Grayish writing paper will not be a universally acceptable alternative to white writing paper.
(D) Beyond a certain limit, increasing the amount of filler added to paper pulp does not increase the whiteness of the paper made from the pulp.
(E) The total amount of writing paper manufactured worldwide will increase significantly in the future.

arvind910619 · Answer

Imo C

Premise 1: Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper pulp if the paper made from the pulp is to look white
Premise 2: Without such filler, paper products look grayish.
Premise 3: To make writing paper that looks white from recycled paper requires more filler than is required to make such paper from other sources.

Conclusion: Therefore, barring the more efficient use of fillers in paper manufacturing or the development of paper-whitening technologies that do not require mineral fillers, if writing paper made from recycled paper comes to replace other types of writing paper,paper manufacturers will have to use more filler than they now use.

Now the conclusion is pretty much a leap from the premises mentioned above.
More recycled paper will be used then more filler will be used and other types of paper are replaced by recycled paper. 
The conclusion is pretty simple but it is making a pretty bold claim that recycled paper would be used and that they would required more filler. 
 
No if the government mandates that the paper quality would be compromised keeping environment in mind and recycled paper would be the norm without the filler. 
So the conclusion falls apart. So this is the assumption required.

A Well this true bbut this not our assumption
B This may be true but it is not relevant to he argument.
C correct.
D But what if they consume a lot of filler before reaching saturation anyways this is also out of scope.
E Out of scope.

unraveled · Answer

Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper pulp if the paper made from the pulp is to look white. Without such filler, paper products look grayish. To make writing paper that looks white from recycled paper requires more filler than is required to make such paper from other sources. Therefore, barring the more efficient use of fillers in paper manufacturing or the development of paper-whitening technologies that do not require mineral fillers, if writing paper made from recycled paper comes to replace other types of writing paper,paper manufacturers will have to use more filler than they now use.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A)  Certain kinds of paper  cannot be manufactured from recycled paper. - WRONG. Irrelevant. 
(B) The fillers that are used to make paper white are  harmful to the environment . - WRONG. Irrelevant.
(C) Grayish writing paper  will not be a universally acceptable alternative to  white writing paper. - CORRECT. If it does then fillers usage becomes less for white paper would be used less. 
(D) Beyond a certain limit, increasing the amount of filler added to paper pulp does not increase the whiteness of the paper made from the pulp. - WRONG. Rather limits the conclusion.
(E) The total amount of writing paper manufactured worldwide will increase significantly in the future. - WRONG. 2nd best but needs the further assumptions to made. Like only white paper would be used and that too with recycle ones being more.

Answer C.

Renchinjav · Answer

Do universally acceptable alternative word is right from the premise?

guddo · Answer

Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper pulp if the paper made from the pulp is to look white. Without such filler, paper products look grayish. To make writing paper that looks white from recycled paper requires more filler than is required to make such paper from other sources. Therefore, barring the more efficient use of fillers in paper manufacturing or the development of paper-whitening technologies that do not require mineral fillers, if writing paper made from recycled paper comes to replace other types of writing paper, paper manufacturers will have to use more filler than they now use. 
 
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

The argument says recycled writing paper requires more filler to look white. So if recycled paper replaces other writing paper, manufacturers will need more filler.  The missing assumption  is that writing paper will still need to be white, not  grayish .

(A) Certain kinds of paper cannot be manufactured from recycled paper.

This is not required. The argument is about writing paper made from recycled paper, not about whether all kinds of paper can be made from recycled material.

(B) The fillers that are used to make paper white are harmful to the environment.

This is irrelevant. The argument concerns how much filler manufacturers will need, not whether filler is harmful.

(C) Grayish writing paper will not be a universally acceptable alternative to white writing paper.

This is correct.   If grayish writing paper were acceptable, manufacturers could make recycled writing paper without adding enough filler to make it white. Then they would not necessarily need more filler. So the argument assumes that grayish paper will not fully replace white paper.

(D) Beyond a certain limit, increasing the amount of filler added to paper pulp does not increase the whiteness of the paper made from the pulp.

This is not required. The argument does not depend on whether filler eventually stops increasing whiteness.

(E) The total amount of writing paper manufactured worldwide will increase significantly in the future.

This is not required. Even if the total amount of writing paper stays the same, replacing current paper with recycled paper could require more filler per unit.

Answer: (C)

egmat · Answer

Hi Renchinjav,

Good instinct to question the wording, but here's the key idea: an  assumption is not something you derive from the premises . It's the opposite - it's an unstated gap the argument  needs  but never says out loud. So you shouldn't expect "universally acceptable alternative" to be provable from the premises. If it were already stated or derivable, it wouldn't be an assumption at all.

The way to test a required assumption is to  negate it  and see if the argument falls apart.

The argument's chain is:
- White paper needs filler.
- Recycled paper needs  more  filler than other sources to look white.
- So if recycled paper replaces other paper, manufacturers will use more filler.

Notice the hidden step: this only follows  if the paper still has to look white . If gray were fine, they could just skip the extra filler.

Now negate (C): suppose grayish writing paper  were  a "universally acceptable alternative." Then manufacturers could simply make gray recycled paper and add little or no filler - and the conclusion "they'll have to use more filler"  collapses . Because negating it breaks the argument, (C) is exactly what the argument silently relies on.

Why "universally acceptable" is the right strength

The phrase has to be strong here. If gray paper were acceptable  even in some cases , manufacturers would have an escape route for those cases, and the blanket conclusion would weaken. So the argument needs gray to be a non-starter across the board - i.e.,  not  a universally acceptable substitute.

Quick habit to lock in:  whenever a choice's wording feels "too strong" or "not in the premises," don't ask  can I derive this?  Ask  if this were false, would the conclusion still hold?  If the answer is no, it's a required assumption - wording and all.

Answer: C

Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper

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Manufacturers of writing paper need to add mineral “filler” to paper

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