The forklifts at a certain warehouse are capable of lifting up to 10,0

Question

The forklifts at a certain warehouse are capable of lifting up to 10,000 lbs. Last year, the warehouse acquired a new forklift capable of lifting up to 20,000 lbs. The warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs, yet the new forklift has only been used twice in the past year.

Which of the following best explains the discrepancy presented in the passage?

A. The warehouse has a pallet truck capable of lifting upto 30,000 lbs.

B. The store employees prefer to use the older forklifts.

C. The average weight of a shipment at this warehouse is 8,000 lbs.

D. Only one employee is qualified to use the new forklift.

E. The new forklift is best used for weights over 14,000 lbs.

Lucky1994 · Answer

Hello Experts,

Can you please explain why the OA is A? The warehouse has a pallet truck capable of lifting 30,000 but are they using the pallet truck. May be or may be not.

Please help.

Thanks
Lakshay

shanky315 · Answer

My opinion on OA: 
A) The warehouse has a pallet truck capable of lifting upto 30,000 lbs.- this properly explains why the new forklift was used only once. As the warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs, so we can expect they might need to lift items weighing more than 20,000 lbs.

Need suggestion if my interpretation was incorrect.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello, everyone. What we have here is a  discrepancy  or  paradox  question, so we know we will encounter conflicting information before we even get to the passage. (Except for  boldface  or fill-in-the-blank (conclusion) questions, I prefer to look at the question first so that I know how to interpret the passage as I read.)

So what is the  discrepancy  here? The fact that a  warehouse acquired a new forklift  last year that can lift  up to 20,000 lbs. , yet even though most of the  weights  of the items the warehouse needs to move are in excess of 10,000 lbs.,  the new forklift has only been used twice . We would expect that the weight of the majority of items would keep workers from using the old forklifts, which would NOT be capable of handling the heavier loads. What do the answers have in store?

Analysis: The old "up to" spiel. One of my old roommates, a mathematician, and I used to joke about how commercials would tout that such-and-such would produce "up to" a 70-percent improvement or something similar, since that could mean the product would do nothing at all. Anyway, here, if the pallet truck can lift an even greater weight than the new forklift, then perhaps the warehouse has been using the pallet truck  instead of  the new forklift to carry most of the loads in excess of 10,000 lbs., or perhaps the loads have been especially heavy on average, in excess of even 20,000 pounds. All the passage indicates is that  the warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs , so this new information could help resolve the apparent discrepancy. It is not that this is the lone possibility; it is just one scenario that fills in a logical gap, and that is precisely what we are looking for.  Green light.

Analysis: This would create a safety problem, given the information from the passage that the older forklifts  are capable of lifting up to 10,000 lbs  and  the warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs . Yikes! If we have to picture multiple forklifts being used to lift the same pallet or load--say, from two opposite sides--then we are stretching to justify an answer, without a firm grounding in the text, and that is a dangerous proposition. The two  boldface  pieces of information above do not go together to resolve the discrepancy.  Red light.

Analysis: This can be a tempting option, as 8,000 lbs. lies within the 10,000-lb. carrying limit of the old forklifts. However, we cannot ignore the part of the passage that states, once again, that  the warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs .  Something  has to be lifting these heavy loads, and this answer choice does not provide anything in the way of an answer. If you want to turn to numbers for comfort, as I often do with these sorts of logic problems, maybe even 1,000 shipments that were 1 lb. each brought down the  average  weight of each shipment to 8,000 lbs., but again, that does  not  explain why the new forklift has been used so little, given the indisputable fact that the majority of the loads exceed 10,000 lbs.  Red light.

Analysis: Again, this can sound reasonable. If  only one employee  can use the new machine, then it might not be used as frequently, right? However, this employee would have to be out on long-term disability if he or she had used the new forklift just  twice in the past year  when--my favorite line-- the warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs . Either that, or the warehouse is trying to go out of business by placing all these shipments on hold while Mr. or Mrs. Mega-Forklift recuperates. Under scrutiny, this answer choice does not hold up, given the information in the passage. The heavier shipments have to be moved  somehow , period.  Red light.

Analysis: Okay, so what handles the loads that fall between 10,000 and 14,000 lbs.? We need to know how the majority of the loads--those in excess of 10,000 lbs.--are being moved about. Notice, too, the trap in  best used . We know the old forklifts  cannot  be used to carry loads above 10,000 lbs., so to our knowledge, there is only one machine that can: the new forklift. Even if it is  best  to use it for super-heavy loads, we cannot assume that it would  not  be used for loads between 10,000 and 14,000 lbs. Are we trying to say that there were only two loads that weighed more than 14,000 lbs. last year? Okay, but again, what, then, was used to carry the rest of the 10,000+ lb. loads that we know the warehouse dealt with? We need an answer, and instead, we just get something more to ponder with this option.  Red light.

I hope that helps. These questions are not easy, but if you can train yourself to follow the linear logic of the passage, and you stick to answering the  exact  question that is being asked, not the one you want to answer, then you can turn CR into an asset in less time than you think. I would be happy to discuss this one further if there are any nay-sayers.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi

You are right that this option only provides a possible explanation - a  maybe  scenario.

However, please note that the question asks us to choose that option which " best explains " the discrepancy. Therefore, just some doubt about this option is not enough to rule it out, we also need to see what alternative options we have.

As is explained in another post, none of the other options even have the possibility of being an explanation for this discrepancy. Option (A), hence, is the option that  best explains  the discrepancy, even if it does not do so with complete certainty.

Hope this helps.

globaldesi · Answer

Official Explanation:

(A)

In order to resolve the discrepancy, you must explain how it could be that the new forklift has only been used twice. At first glance, it doesn't make sense that it has been used so little because the company's other forklifts can only lift 10,000 Ibs, and yet they deal primarily in quantities larger than 10,000 lbs. This would appear to require the use of the new forklift, which can lift up to 20,000 lbs.

Choice (A) explains how this can be the case. The warehouse has another piece of equipment capable of dealing with heavier weights: a pallet truck able to lift up to 30,000 lbs. Thus, they must use the pallet truck on most occasions for quantities above 10,000 lbs.

Choice (B) fails to resolve the discrepancy because the preference of store employees is not at issue. Neither is the average weight of a shipment at this warehouse as given in choice (C). In fact, this information directly contradicts the statement in the passage saying that the warehouse deals primarily with weights of more than 10,000 lbs.

Choice (D) fails to resolve the contradiction because the question of why the new equipment has been used so little still stands regardless of how many people are qualified to use it.

Choice (E) is not helpful, either, because it leaves open the question of how the warehouse deals with weights from 10,001 to 13,999 lbs.

Choice (A) is the only answer that explains the apparent discrepancy; therefore, it is the best choice.

Isha2701 · Answer

Bunuel   KarishmaB  - can you help why we chose A over D?

guddo · Answer

The forklifts at a certain warehouse are capable of lifting up to 10,000 lbs. Last year, the warehouse acquired a new forklift capable of lifting up to 20,000 lbs. The warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs, yet the new forklift has only been used twice in the past year. 
 
Which of the following best explains the discrepancy presented in the passage?

The discrepancy is this: the warehouse mostly handles loads above 10,000 lbs, so the new 20,000-lb forklift seems like it should be used often, but it was used only twice. The best explanation is the one showing that  even when loads are above 10,000 lbs, the new forklift is not usually needed .

(A) The warehouse has a pallet truck capable of lifting up to 30,000 lbs.

This is the best answer. If the warehouse already has another machine that can handle loads even heavier than the new forklift can, then the new forklift may rarely be necessary, even though the warehouse often deals with loads above 10,000 lbs.

(B) The store employees prefer to use the older forklifts.

This is not enough. If the older forklifts can lift only 10,000 lbs, then employee preference does not explain how the warehouse handles loads over 10,000 lbs.

(C) The average weight of a shipment at this warehouse is 8,000 lbs.

This contradicts the statement that the warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs.

(D) Only one employee is qualified to use the new forklift.

This helps somewhat, but it does not fully explain why it was used only twice if the warehouse mainly handles loads above 10,000 lbs.

(E) The new forklift is best used for weights over 14,000 lbs.

This is weaker than A. The warehouse still primarily deals with weights above 10,000 lbs, and many of those could still be over 14,000 lbs.

Answer: (A)

KarishmaB · Answer

I chose A by elimination since I wasn't sure what a pallet truck is. At first instance it looked like a transport vehicle which cannot replace a fork lift since you first lift the weight and then put it in the "truck." But the option does say "lifting" though it could mean carrying so I wasn't sure. 
But all other options were incorrect so I assumed a pallet truck is something that lifts/drags and carries as well. That was the only option possible. (A google search showed me that it can replace a fork lift).

But why are all other options incorrect for sure?

B. The store employees prefer to use the older forklifts.

Irrelevant what they prefer. Older fork lifts cannot lift weights higher than 10,000 lbs.  The warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs. So the new fork lift needs to be used, whether the employees prefer it or not.

C. The average weight of a shipment at this warehouse is 8,000 lbs.

Average is irrelevant. Perhaps a few shipments are 1 pound each bringing down the average massively. We know that t he warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs. So the new fork lift should have been used very often. 
 
 D. Only one employee is qualified to use the new forklift.

Well, one employee may not be present for 20 or 30 days in a year but he/she is an employee. So rest of the days he/she would be available to use the fork lift and again, since t he warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs, his/her special skills would be needed very often. Other fork lifts cannot be used for these weights. 
One cannot be called an employee if he/she is available only once or twice in a year.

E. The new forklift is best used for weights over 14,000 lbs.

We know that t he warehouse primarily deals with weights of more than 10,000 lbs. Other lifts cannot be used with them. So it doesn't matter what the new forklift can BEST be used for. It is the ONLY option for weights more than 10,000 lbs. So it must be used for all weights more than 10,000 lbs.

All these options do not explain the minimal use of the new forklift so option (A) had to be it by elimination. It does talk about another thing that can lift weights upto 30,000 lbs. 
 
Answer (A)

The forklifts at a certain warehouse are capable of lifting up to 10,0

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The forklifts at a certain warehouse are capable of lifting up to 10,0

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