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# That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o

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Senior Manager
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That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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Updated on: 18 Oct 2017, 08:22
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68% (01:10) correct 32% (01:31) wrong based on 2043 sessions

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That the application of new technology can increase the productivity of existing coal mines is demonstrated by the case of Tribnia's coal industry. Coal output per miner in Tribnia is double what it was five years ago, even though no new mines have opened.

Which of the following can be properly concluded from the statement about coal output per miner in the passage?

(A) If the number of miners working in Tribnian coal mines has remained constant in the past five years, Tribnia's total coal production has doubled in that period of time.

(B) Any individual Tribnian coal mine that achieved an increase in overall ouput in the past five years has also experienced an increase in output per miner.

(C) If any new coal mines had opened in Tribnia in the past five years, then the increase in output per miner would have been even greater than it actually was.

(D) If any individual Tribnian coal mine has not increased its output per miner in the past five years, then that mine's overall output has declined or remained constant.

(E) In Tribnia the cost of producing a given quantity of coal has declined over the past five years.

Originally posted by buckkitty on 21 Dec 2006, 20:16.
Last edited by hazelnut on 18 Oct 2017, 08:22, edited 1 time in total.
Edited the question.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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21 Dec 2006, 20:36
17
4
Five Years ago,

Coal output per miner(x) = Total Coal Quantity(x)/Total no. of miners(x)

Today,

Coal output per miner(today)=2*Coal output per miner(x)
=2*Total Coal Quantity(x)/Total no. of miners(x)

Equating,

Total coal quantity(today)/Total no.of miners(today)=2*Total Coal Quantity(x)/Total no. of miners(x)

If Total no.of miners(today)= Total no.of miners(x), then
Total coal quantity(today) = 2*Total Coal Quantity(x)

This is the same as A->If the number of miners working in Tribnian coal mines has remained constant in the past five years, Tribnia's total coal production has doubled in that period of time.

So, my pick is A.
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##### General Discussion
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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21 Dec 2006, 20:29
2
3
I prefer A.

A. Very straight forward logic.

B. You can't deduce this, reversely based on the logic.

C. The question is not talking about NEW mines.

D and E are irrelevant.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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22 Dec 2006, 03:32
A from me..

if workers constant, and output doubled, then clearly volume doubled...

u cant infer any other from the argument..
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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22 Dec 2006, 09:10
2
Production = average output * no. of miners

Therefore, if no. of miners is constant, then:

2*production = 2*average output * no. of miners

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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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22 Dec 2006, 17:57
X: increase in technology applications for mines
Y: increase in mine production[coal output per miner]

The argument claims that X --> Y

we conclude that
Y --/--> X
Z --/--> Y where Z is any other variable or change

Answer (A) provides that Z, change in the number of miners, remained constant during the period. Because Y is a rate [coal output/ number of miners], then a change in the number of miners [Z] can cause a change in the coal output per miner [Y].

Thus, answer A provides that Z --/--> Y
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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01 Jan 2007, 16:05
The stem can be abbreviated to:

2* Total Coal Production in yr a / number of miners in yr a = T.C. P. in yr (a+5) / n in yr (a+5).

A is directly related to the stem. All other options are less related or irrelevant.

buckkitty wrote:
That the application of new technology can increase the productivity of existing coal mines is demonstrated by the case of Tribnia's coal industry. Coal output per miner in Tribnia is double what it was five years ago, even though no new mines have opened.

Which of the following can be properly concluded from the statement about coal output per miner in the passage?

A. If the number of miners working in Tribnian coal mines has remained constant in the past five years, Tribnia's total coal production has doubled in that period of time.

B. Any individual Tribnian coal mine that achieved an increase in overall ouput in the past five years has also experienced an increase in output per miner.

C. If any new coal mines had opened in Tribnia in the past five years, then the increase in output per miner would have been even greater than it actually was.

D. If any individual Tribnian coal mine has not increased its output per miner in the past five years, then that mine's overall output has declined or remained constant.

E. In Tribnia the cost of producing a given quantity of coal has declined over the past five years.

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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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05 Nov 2009, 03:26
If Coal output per miner in Tribnia is doubled what it was five years ago. Then productively per person has doubled.

IMO Choice A “If the number of miners working in Tribnian coal mines has remained constant in the past five years, Tribnia’s total coal production has doubled in that period of time” describes the situation.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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27 Mar 2010, 09:45
1
That the application of new technology can increase the productivity of existing coal mines is demonstrated by the case of Tribnia’s coal industry. Coal output per miner in Tribnia is double what it was five years ago, even though no new mines have opened.

Which of the following can be properly concluded from the statement about coal output per miner in the passage?
A. If the number of miners working in Tribnian coal mines has remained constant in the past five years, Tribnia’s total coal production has doubled in that period of time.
B. Any individual Tribnian coal mine that achieved an increase in overall output in the past five years has also experienced an increase in output per miner.
C. If any new coal mines had opened in Tribnia in the past five years, then the increase in output per miner would have been even greater than it actually was.
D. If any individual Tribnian coal mine has not increased its output per miner in the past five years, then that mine’s overall output has declined or remained constant.
E. In Tribnia the cost of producing a given quantity of coal has declined over the past five years.

Pls. explain...
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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02 Apr 2010, 20:30
Quote:
new technology can increase the productivity of existing coal mines is demonstrated by the case of Tribnia’s coal industry. Coal output per miner in Tribnia is double what it was five years ago, even though no new mines have opened.

After reading this question one would think *May be the employee(miner) strength should have increased.So there is a increase in the Coal(This actually can be one of the reason for the increase in Coal production..

So to draw a conclusion(that supports ""new technology increased the productivity"" one should eliminate the alternate cause mentioned above.

I Think A does it well and concludes... Hope im correct
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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04 Apr 2010, 07:15
Good question.
A

I went by process of elimination from bottom up. If the production rate per miner has doubled in the past five years, the production per miner would be two-folds in five years. Only necessary condition is that everything else remain the same i.e. no change in number of miners or no new places are adding to the output.

D and B look suspect, but evaluating A is better and quicker and seems good enough after some analysis.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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23 Apr 2010, 01:41
Tough one.

Selected D first but A looks the correct one.
Even I thiught for A but I dont know why I moved away from it and marked D.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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08 Jul 2010, 08:29
RaviChandra wrote:
Quote:
new technology can increase the productivity of existing coal mines is demonstrated by the case of Tribnia’s coal industry. Coal output per miner in Tribnia is double what it was five years ago, even though no new mines have opened.

After reading this question one would think *May be the employee(miner) strength should have increased.So there is a increase in the Coal(This actually can be one of the reason for the increase in Coal production..

So to draw a conclusion(that supports ""new technology increased the productivity"" one should eliminate the alternate cause mentioned above.

I Think A does it well and concludes... Hope im correct

Couldn't get that .. can you please explain again.

Quote:

After reading this question one would think *May be the employee(miner) strength should have increased.

I thought its because of technology
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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08 Jul 2010, 08:54
I'm with A. B and D discuss individual coal mines and what their impact would be if those variables changed - out of scope. E discusses costs - out of scope. C - just because a new mine opened does not mean there would be greater productivity as a whole. The new mine could very well be a wasted venture, and could drag down output per miner.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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08 Jul 2010, 09:25
RGM wrote:
I'm with A. B and D discuss individual coal mines and what their impact would be if those variables changed - out of scope. E discusses costs - out of scope. C - just because a new mine opened does not mean there would be greater productivity as a whole. The new mine could very well be a wasted venture, and could drag down output per miner.

Dear RGM - It's a great analysis you've shown - only if you could also tell how did you so definitively conclude that because B and D were discussing INDIVIDUAL coal mines hence they were out of scope?
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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08 Jul 2010, 09:39
2
2
dwivedys wrote:
RGM wrote:
I'm with A. B and D discuss individual coal mines and what their impact would be if those variables changed - out of scope. E discusses costs - out of scope. C - just because a new mine opened does not mean there would be greater productivity as a whole. The new mine could very well be a wasted venture, and could drag down output per miner.

Dear RGM - It's a great analysis you've shown - only if you could also tell how did you so definitively conclude that because B and D were discussing INDIVIDUAL coal mines hence they were out of scope?

I considered them as out of scope just because the premise does not say anything about the individual coal mines.

B states - "Any individual Tribnian coal mine that achieved an increase in overall output in the past five years has also experienced an increase in output per miner." One case might be that a particular mine decided to increase manpower to increase yield. If this is the case, then there is no increase in output per miner. The premise did not say that the number of workers remained constant for all individual mines.

D states - "If any individual Tribnian coal mine has not increased its output per miner in the past five years, then that mine’s overall output has declined or remained constant." This is like the reverse of B. If the premise said that the number of workers remained constant for all individual mines, we can conclude that if the output per miner decreased, the overall output decreased for that mine.

Some may not agree with my reasoning, but that's how it seemed to me at the time.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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06 May 2011, 20:18
Can someone tell how to eliminate "D" ?
If any individual Tribnian coal mine has not increased its output per miner in the
past five years, then that mine’s overall output has declined or remained
constant."

This has to be true as number of miners has remained constant...
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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12 Aug 2011, 12:34
1
1
bibha wrote:
can someone explain why C is wrong?

I will give you a simple analogy, try and relate that to the problem at hand

I got wet, even though it dint rain.

Now think what it concludes
1. I got wet due to something else, other than rain ( I DID NOT GET WET DUE TO RAIN )
OR
2. If it rained I would have got wet -- can you really conclude this ? Will this happen 100% of times that WHEVENER it rains you will get wet ?

My example doesnt even talk about raining, can we still conclude something which is not given in the text ?

On the same lines
production / miner improved, even though new start ups dint come up

CONCLUSION -- production / miner DID NOT / WOULD NOT HAVE IMPROVE(D) DUE TO NEW START UPS IT IMPROVED DUE TO TECHNOLOGY

does it make sense ?
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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17 Jan 2012, 08:42
sap wrote:
bibha wrote:
can someone explain why C is wrong?

I will give you a simple analogy, try and relate that to the problem at hand

I got wet, even though it dint rain.

Now think what it concludes
1. I got wet due to something else, other than rain ( I DID NOT GET WET DUE TO RAIN )
OR
2. If it rained I would have got wet -- can you really conclude this ? Will this happen 100% of times that WHEVENER it rains you will get wet ?

My example doesnt even talk about raining, can we still conclude something which is not given in the text ?

On the same lines
production / miner improved, even though new start ups dint come up

CONCLUSION -- production / miner DID NOT / WOULD NOT HAVE IMPROVE(D) DUE TO NEW START UPS IT IMPROVED DUE TO TECHNOLOGY

does it make sense ?

Theoretically C could be possible, but there is nothing in the argument that supports this possibility.
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Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o  [#permalink]

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26 Jan 2012, 05:26
That the application of new technology can increase the productivity of existing coal mines is demonstrated by the case of Tribnia’s coal industry. Coal output per miner in Tribnia is double what it was five years ago, even though no new mines have opened.
$$\frac{C o 5yrs ago}{N5 yrs ago}$$ = $$2*\frac{C o now}{Nnow}$$
Draw a Conclusion: For such questions, we should not assume anything other than what is given in the premises.
A. If the number of miners working in Tribnian coal mines has remained constant in the past five years, Tribnia’s total coal production has doubled in that period of time. Only option that can be logically inferred without any assumptions.
B. Any individual Tribnian coal mine that achieved an increase in overall output in the past five years has also experienced an increase in output per miner. Out of Scope. Nothing about individual coal mines is mentioned.
C. If any new coal mines had opened in Tribnia in the past five years, then the increase in output per miner would have been even greater than it actually was.Further assumption required.Out
D. If any individual Tribnian coal mine has not increased its output per miner in the past five years, then that mine’s overall output has declined or remained constant. It may be possible that the number of workers has declined. Out.
E. In Tribnia the cost of producing a given quantity of coal has declined over the past five years. Out of Scope. Nothing about price mentioned.
Re: That the application of new technology can increase the productivity o &nbs [#permalink] 26 Jan 2012, 05:26

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