United Lumber will use trees from its forests for two products.

Question

United Lumber will use trees from its forests for two products. The tree trunks will be used for lumber and the branches converted into wood chips to make fiberboard. The cost of this conversion would be the same whether done at the logging site, where the trees are debranched, or at United's factory. However, wood chips occupy less than half the volume of the branches from which they are made.

The information given, if accurate, most strongly supports which of the following?

(A) Converting the branches into wood chips at the logging site would require transporting a fully assembled wood-chipping machine to and from the site.

(B) It would be more economical to debranch the trees at the factory where the fiberboard is manufactured.

(C) The debranching of trees and the conversion of the branches into chips are the only stages in the processing of branches that it would be in United's economic advantage to perform at the logging site.

(D) Transportation costs from the logging site to the factory that are determined by volume of cargo would be lower if the conversion into chips is done at the logging site rather than at the factory.

(E) In the wood-processing industry, branches are used only for the production of wood chips for fiberboard.

ID: 500389
01291

souvik101990 · Accepted Answer

United Lumber will use trees from its forests for two products. The tree trunks will be used for lumber and the branches converted into wood chips to make fiberboard. The cost of this conversion would be the same whether done at the logging site, where the trees are debranched, or at United's factory. However, wood chips occupy less than half the volume of the branches from which they are made. The information given, if accurate, most strongly supports which of the following?

A. Converting the branches into wood chips at the logging site would require transporting a fully assembled woodchipping machine to and from the site.

B. It would be more economical to debranch the trees at the factory where the fiberboard is manufactured.

C. The debranching of trees and the conversion of the branches into chips are the only stages in the processing of branches that it would be in United's economic advantage to perform at the logging site.

D. Transportation costs from the logging site to the factory that are determined by volume of cargo would be lower if the conversion into chips is done at the logging site rather than at the factory.

E. In the wood-processing industry, branches are used only for the production of wood chips for fiberboard.

D. The key here is the last sentence. If only half of the volume of the branches can be turned into wood chips, that's a lot of extra material to deal with.

D says that volume-based cargo costs would be lower if you process the branches at the site. If you process on-site, you're only sending the material to be used, which saves you half of the volume. If you send entire branches, you're paying to ship the excess material that isn't used for wood chips.

A--We have no information about the machinery requirements for wood chip conversion. 
B--We have no information about the cost of debranching at the factory or at the site. 
C--We don't know if there are other stages that could be economically advantageous. 
E--We can't extrapolate from United Lumber to the entire wood-processing industry; we can't draw a universal conclusion from particular premises.

SimaQ · Answer

I pick D.

Conclusion is that you need approx. 2 branches to make 1 wood chip.

Thus if transportation costs are determined by volume of cargo, it would be wise to convert all branches into chips at logging site....

rdg · Answer

'D'

"Transportation costs from the logging site to the factory that are determined by volume of cargo would be lower if the conversion into chips is done at the logging site rather than at the factory. "

perfectly supports the last statement which points to transportation cost indirectly.

LUC999 · Answer

I think "C" goes beyond the scope. From the passage we cannot conclude whether de-branching and conversion into chips are the ONLY steps of the production.
Thus (D) is more in the scope, repeating exactly what is in the text.

LUC999 · Answer

I think "C" goes beyond the scope. From the passage we cannot conclude whether de-branching and conversion into chips are the ONLY steps of the production.
Thus (D) is more in the scope, repeating exactly what is in the text.

VikashAlex · Answer

This is an inference question 
only option D relates the cost with the volume. Hence all options are rejected.

IloveMBA123 · Answer

However, wood chips occupy less than half the volume of the branches from which they are made.

Does this sentence imply the cost of transportation is lesser, if the volume is lesser?

how do we know this sentnce is talking about the cost of transportation? It is quite strange that this "however" appear out of nowhere

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

(A) Converting the branches into wood chips at the logging site would require transporting a fully assembled wood-chipping machine to and from the site.  -  no information is provided in the passage regarding the transportation of wood chipping machine. 
  
(B) It would be more economical to debranch the trees at the factory where the fiberboard is manufactured . -  no information regarding the 'economical' approach of de-branching is provided in the passage . 
 
(C) The  debranching  of trees and the  conversion of the branches  into chips  are the only stages in the processing of branches  that it would be in United's economic advantage to perform at the logging site. -   no information is provided on the processes that provide United with an economic advantage. All we know is that the cost of conversion is the same irrespective of location. 
 
(D) Transportation costs from the logging site to the factory that are determined by volume of cargo would be lower if the conversion into chips is done at the logging site rather than at the factory. -  we do know that wood chips occupy half the volume of the branches. so, if wood chip conversion is performed at the site itself, then the total volume of cargo transported from the site itself will be far less than the volume of cargo that is expected if the trees as a whole are transported unprocessed (which will have far greater volume, and hence higher transportation costs). Therefore, we are in a position to support the statement in (D) based on the information provided to us in the passage. Hence, (D) is the right answer choice. 
 
(E) In the wood-processing industry, branches are used only for the production of wood chips for fiberboard.  -  we do not have information that cites 'fiber boards' as the only usage for the branches.

GMATmona07 · Answer

Option E mentioned "the wood-processing industry", which means that the "United Lumber" & "this industry uses trees for two products; the tree trunks will be used for lumber and the branches converted into wood chips to make fiberboard".

Then why option E is wrong?

Experts please help in this.

AjiteshArun GMATNinja MagooshExpert GMATGuruNY AndrewN IanStewart

Thanks

Then why option E is wrong?

Experts please help in this.

AjiteshArun   GMATNinja   MagooshExpert   GMATGuruNY   AndrewN   IanStewart

Thanks

Jarvis07 · Answer

The information given most strongly supports option (D): Transportation costs from the logging site to the factory that are determined by the volume of cargo would be lower if the conversion into chips is done at the logging site rather than at the factory.

According to the information provided, wood chips occupy less than half the volume of the branches from which they are made. If the conversion into wood chips is done at the logging site, the volume of cargo that needs to be transported to the factory would be significantly reduced. As a result, transportation costs determined by the volume of cargo would be lower compared to transporting the bulkier branches to the factory.

This implies that it would be more cost-effective to perform the conversion into wood chips at the logging site, as it would reduce transportation costs. This supports the idea that converting the branches into wood chips at the logging site would be advantageous in terms of logistics and cost efficiency.

IanStewart · Answer

It's true, from the passage, that United Lumber will use branches only for wood chips. But answer E says "in the wood-processing industry" branches are only used for wood chips. United Lumber is just one company in this industry; we have no idea, from the passage, what other wood-processing companies do with tree branches, so E is not an inference we can draw.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  GMATmona07 . Ian has it just right above. This type of generalization error is common in CR questions, regardless of question difficulty. You have to become mindful, for example, of just what  some ,  several ,  most ,  all , or, in this case,  one  (since, again, we are provided information on a single company within a particular industry) applies to in a given context, or you can get into trouble pretty fast.

Although I was not the first one to respond, I wanted to thank you nonetheless for thinking to ask for my input. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

Yvs30081997 · Answer

'D'

"Transportation costs from the logging site to the factory that are determined by volume of cargo would be lower if the conversion into chips is done at the logging site rather than at the factory. "

perfectly supports the last statement which points to transportation cost indirectly.

Navyajindal · Answer

I thought that since it's mentioned the cost of conversion would be same whether it's done at logging site or the factory - thats why I eliminated D and selected C. While logically C makes sense, only because of the same cost statement I went with C. Can someone please help to clarify this point?

VerbalBot · Answer

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United Lumber will use trees from its forests for two products.

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United Lumber will use trees from its forests for two products.

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