Engineers are attempting to make PX-1000 series ...

Question

Engineers are attempting to make PX-1000 series cars more environmentally friendly by increasing their use of natural gases. One plan to accomplish this is to use organic waste to power cars. When organic waste decomposes, it releases fuel that is much more powerful than crude oil. 
 
Which of the following, if true, would indicate the most serious weakness in the plan above?

(A) Some parts of the world do not generate enough organic waste to power a significant number of automobiles.
(B) All existing mechanisms to operate engines with fuel drawn from decomposed organic waste are too large to fit in automobiles.
(C) Even if organic waste proves to be an effective alternative to crude oil, some car owners will be reluctant to buy cars that run on this new fuel.
(D) Each year several million tons of organic waste decomposes but is not used to the full extent of its energy potential.
(E) Organic waste is more valuable as fuel to companies required to cut carbon emissions than to automobile drivers.

Source:  GMAT Hacks - Question of the Day - 091013

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear avohden , This is a good CR question. I am happy to help. :-)

The goal of the plan is to make the cars " more environmentally friendly ". That's the purpose of the plan. (A) Some parts of the world do not generate enough organic waste to power a significant number of automobiles. Well, some parts of the world make a lot more oil than other parts of the world, but that doesn't stop the oil from getting shipped around to where people need it. Presumably the same thing could happen with any other fuel. Not a weakener, and not correct. (B) All existing mechanisms to operate engines with fuel drawn from decomposed organic waste are too large to fit in automobiles. Hmm. This is a BIG problem. If we can't fit the engines that would run on this into cars, then that would more or less doom the plan to use this type of engine to make cars more environmentally friendly. This is a strong weakener. (C) Even if organic waste proves to be an effective alternative to crude oil, some car owners will be reluctant to buy cars that run on this new fuel. That could pose an economic obstacle, but the immediate goal is simply making the cars more environmentally friendly, and that would be true whether folks were buying them or not. Therefore, this is relevant for the large interests of these companies and their investors, but it is not relevant to the particular argument we are evaluating here. This is not correct. (D) Each year several million tons of organic waste decomposes but is not used to the full extent of its energy potential. Well, if there's a lot of this waste out there, that's a resource waiting to be tapped. If anything, this is a strengthener. It is certainly not a weakener, so it is incorrect. (E) Organic waste is more valuable as fuel to companies required to cut carbon emissions than to automobile drivers. This provide additional motivation to follow this plan --- a mild strengthener. It is certainly not a weakener, so it is incorrect. The only clear weakener is (B), so that's the best possible answer. Here's a blog about weakening arguments: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/how-to-wea ... reasoning/ Let me know if you have any questions. Mike :-)

avohden · Answer

Official Explanation

Answer: B   In nearly all arguments based on a plan or proposal, one underlying assumption is that the plan is feasible. When you read the argument, you might assume that it's possible to build a mechanism to do what is suggested and fit it into the overall workings of an automobile. Alas, choice (B) indicates a very serious weakness: this isn't possible. Choices (A), (C), and (E) slightly weaken the plan. (A) and (C) provide reasons why the plan won't be hugely effective, but they don't cast doubt on the possibility that the plan will have environmentally-friendly results. (E) suggests the plan will be expensive, but without more details we don't know whether it would be prohibitively so. That leaves (B), which most weakens the plan, and is correct.

Cadaver · Answer

(B) All existing mechanisms to operate engines with fuel drawn from decomposed organic waste are too large to fit in automobiles.

Hmm. This is a BIG problem. If we can't fit the engines that would run on this into cars, then that would more or less doom the plan to use this type of engine to make cars more environmentally friendly. This is a strong weakener.  
 mike  - Dont you think it is not at all necessary whether machinery available is right or not. Anyways they are in a development stage. Its mentioned in the question. So we can presume this can be taken care of in future.!!!!!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Satyarath , I'm happy to respond. :-)

Here's the prompt again, for reference: Engineers are attempting to make PX-1000 series cars more environmentally friendly by increasing their use of natural gases. One plan to accomplish this is to use organic waste to power cars. When organic waste decomposes, it releases fuel that is much more powerful than crude oil. First of all, I am not going to vouch for the quality of this question --- the GMAT official questions are impeccable, and MGMAT & Magoosh have excellent questions, but not all questions are created equal. Here's what I'll say. It sounds as if the " PX-1000 series cars " are a series of cars already out --- already in full production, already sold at dealerships, already on the road. At this point, we're in post-production. That VERY different from designing a new series of cars that is purely in the preliminary planning stages, the pre-production stages. If the question said they were designing a brand new series, never made before, then we could accommodate all kinds of changes to the design. Instead, we are talking about a series already in production: do you appreciate the sheer momentum of a large item that is already in production --- all the specific machinery in the factory for this series, the specific supply chains, the specific ways to transport this product from factory to showroom, etc. etc. All this is in place already. The company wants to change this series of cars to make them more environmentally friendly --- if they could simply change one part of the production, say, part of the engine design, then everything else could be left unchanged. That's obviously what they would like to do. BUT, if the new engines don't fit, then they have to redesign the frame, which would entail redesigning almost everything else about the car. Do you understand the millions and millions of dollars required to alter all the details of an entire production line? In many many ways, it would be much easier at this point just to start from scratch, with a brand new design, but that is not what the folks in the prompt are trying to do. My friend, if you want to impress business schools, it's very important that you think critically about business, that you understand the powerful financial implications of choices, that you appreciate all the economic pressures that drive a business into one channel and not another. It's very important to read business new to get an appreciation of the real push-and-pull of the business world. Think about it. The question you posed here, essentially conflating pre-production alterations with post-production alterations --- if you had displayed this kind of confusion, say, in your B-school interview, you would communicate to adcom that you really are not very familiar with the details of business. Sometimes, in a b-school interview, the interviewer will pose questions about real business world issues, to test your business instincts. Part of what you need to do is make yourself an expert, as much as possible, in the fundamentals of the business world. Furthermore, the GMAT CR questions very much reflect the logic of the real business world: the more of sense you have of this world, the more the logic of the GMAT CR will be clear to you. Here's a blog you may find germane: GMAT Critical Reasoning and Outside Knowledge Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

Cadaver · Answer

Hi Mike

Thank you so much for the clear and precise answer to my doubt. When I had initially read the question this particular statement - "One plan to accomplish this is to use organic waste to power cars" lead me to ask the above stated question . So I thought maybe my doubt might fit in to the question.

I ll take all your valuable inputs and try to improve in the business aspect.

I have gone through most of your Sentence Correction articles and have made a handful of notes using them.
It was wonderful hearing from you personally . Pleasant Surprise !!!

onkargm · Answer

Cadaver , I have a little confusion here, even after mike's precise explanation. Here in the question stem it is stated that  Engineers are attempting , so won't they attempt to make a compact adjustable mechanisms/engines for the cars. It will be an attempt right? Engineers may fail or succeed. If they succeed to make a compact engine or mechanism which fits into the current car design. So answer  B  seems flawed.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear onkargm , I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, the whole point of GMAT CR is the ability to make at least some clear decisions in a world in which very little is certain. It's true the engineers have a plan. They are making an attempt. Of course, there's a great deal of uncertainty in that. From the prompt, neither success nor failure is guaranteed. The prompt question is: " Which of the following, if true, would indicate the most serious weakness in the plan above? " It's a serious weakness of a plan if we can say at the outset that it simply won't work, that it's not even worth the effort. This is exactly what (B) does. Before we hear (B), we don't know whether the engineers will be successful in implementing this plan. Once we hear (B), it's guaranteed that the plan will be a failure. In other words, we know at the outset that it's not even worthwhile to start on this plan. That's a real weakener! That's why (B) is correct. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

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