The bearings in wind turbines are subject to extreme mechanical

Question

The bearings in wind turbines are subject to extreme mechanical pressures that eventually cause breakdown. Proper lubrication of bearings extends the life of the bearings, and the better the lubricant used, the more the lubricant extends the life of the bearings in which it is used. A new lubricant is the best lubricant currently available, and Pacifico Power has decided to use the new lubricant in all of the bearings in its new turbines. Atlantico Power, on the other hand, is still using a previous generation lubricant in the bearings in all of its turbines.

If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true?

A. All of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines will outlast any of Atlantico Power’s bearings.

B. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the lubricant used in the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines, Atlantico Power's bearings would last longer than they will.

C. Were Pacifico Power to use in its new turbines’ bearings the lubricant used in Atlantico Power’s bearings, the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines would not outlast Atlantico Power’s bearings.

D. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the new lubricant, they would last as long as the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines.

E. None of Pacifico Power’s bearings that were lubricated with the previous generation lubricant will last as long as will any of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines.

Source: TTP Beta Testing

aragonn · Answer

only information we know so far is that there are two oils - old and new. new will increase the life of a bearing. only B is on lines of this.

SonalSinha803 · Answer

But C also conveys the same meaning by taking the reference of Atlantico Power. Could please explain this.

According to me I find E more accurate.

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arun6765 · Answer

A. All of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines will outlast any of Atlantico Power’s bearings.
 What if bearings of Atlantico are not at all used.

B. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the lubricant used in the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines, Atlantico Power's bearings would last longer than they will. Here you see there is no comparison between two-time frames. We can conclude this aptly by saying use that lubricant and see the difference.

C. Were Pacifico Power to use in its new turbines’ bearings the lubricant used in Atlantico Power’s bearings, the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines would not outlast Atlantico Power’s bearings. What if bearings of Pacifico Power's are not at all used.

D. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the new lubricant, they would last as long as the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines.
 What if the bearings of Atlantico powers are inherently weak that will falsify this claim.

E.  None  of Pacifico Power’s bearings that were lubricated with the previous generation lubricant will last as long as will any of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines. 
 What if the use of turbines has declined. Although lubrication is done we cannot so strongly infer that none of the new bearings will last longer than previous.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

In order to answer the question, we need a statement that must be true, given what the passage says.

The passage says that:

- proper lubrication of bearings extends the life of the bearings.

- the better the lubricant used, the more the lubricant extends the life of the bearings in which it is used.

It also says that the new lubricant is the best available, and we can infer from this fact that the new lubricant is better than the previous generation lubricant, as the best version of something is always better than any other version of that same thing.

At the same time, the key thing to realize is that the lubricant merely EXTENDS the life of bearings, and that the new lubricant merely does a better job of extending the life of the bearings than the previous generation lubricant does. So, the lubricant is not the only factor that determines how long bearings last. There could be many other factors determining how long bearings last, such as the amount of wind flowing through a particular turbine or the quality of the bearings.

Now, let's consider E.

E. None of Pacifico Power’s bearings that were lubricated with the previous generation lubricant will last as long as will any of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines.

E is a trap answer, as it seems likely to be true, given that the bearings in the new turbines were all lubricated with the better lubricant.

However, E does not really have to be true. For all we know, the new turbines are located in a very windy area, and, therefore, their bearings will wear out much faster than the bearings in the older turbines. Alternatively, some of the bearings in the new turbines could be defective and will, therefore, wear out relatively quickly. So, while we know that the new lubricant will extend the lives of the bearings in the new turbines, since a variety of unmentioned factors could affect the lives of any of the bearings. what's said in the passage does not define how long any of the bearings will last or clearly indicate that the bearings in the new turbines will last longer than any of the bearings in the older turbines.

So, E is not fully supported by the passage.

ahonob · Answer

mikemcgarry  Could you please explain why option B is correct and not option C.

MagooshExpert · Answer

Hi ahonob , Carolyn from Magoosh here -- I can jump in for Mike

This is tricky because B and C are both saying very similar things. The key is to look at exactly what is being compared. We don't know anything about the quality of Pacifico or Atlantico bearings -- one of them might be designed better than the other. So if they both use the exact same lubricant, we wouldn't know which one might last longer. One of them might withstand damage better, and so even with the same lubricant, might last longer. What we do know is that one type of bearing will last longer if it uses the new lubricant. Choice B says that Atlantico's bearings will last longer if the new lubricant is used. It is only comparing Atlantico with itself, which is consistent with what we know. Switching lubricants will improve the lifetime of Atlantico's bearings. Choice C, though, says that if both companies used the old lubricant, they would last for the same amount of time. But as I mentioned before, we don't know that that's the case. If Atlantico's bearings are designed to withstand damage better, then they would last longer than Pacifico's even with the same lubricant. So since we don't know anything about the relative performance of the two companies, we don't know that this is true. Does that make sense? If not, let me know

-Carolyn

Show123 · Answer

Hi,
I have trouble wrapping my head around why Option A is incorrect.
The question stem says that new lubricant will be used in all the bearings in the new turbines. Then why can't we conclude that all the bearings of Pacifico Power will outlast bearings of Atlantico Power?

gmatexam439 · Answer

The bearings in wind turbines are subject to extreme mechanical pressures that eventually cause breakdown. Proper lubrication of bearings extends the life of the bearings, and the better the lubricant used, the more the lubricant extends the life of the bearings in which it is used. A new lubricant is the best lubricant currently available, and Pacifico Power has decided to use the new lubricant in all of the bearings in its new turbines. Atlantico Power, on the other hand, is still using a previous generation lubricant in the bearings in all of its turbines.

If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true?

A. All of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines will outlast any of Atlantico Power’s bearings. -- We don't know whether "all" the turbines of PP will outlast AP's.

B. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the lubricant used in the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines, Atlantico Power's bearings would last longer than they will. -- Correct. The better the lubricant, the longer the life of turbine.
 
C. Were Pacifico Power to use in its new turbines’ bearings the lubricant used in Atlantico Power’s bearings, the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines would not outlast Atlantico Power’s bearings. -- Again can't say anything about the turbines in PP or AP. Maybe PP makes turbines using better material so they would naturally last longer.

D. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the new lubricant, they would last as long as the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines. -- Again as in option C we can't say this

E. None of Pacifico Power’s bearings that were lubricated with the previous generation lubricant will last as long as will any of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines. -- This is again an exaggerated choice like option A

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

A. All of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines will outlast any of Atlantico Power’s bearings.

To understand why A cannot be inferred, we need a key detail from the passage. It can be found in the following sentence:

Proper lubrication of bearings extends the life of the bearings, and the better the lubricant used, the more the lubricant extends the life of the bearings in which it is used.

Notice, the lubricant "extends the life of the bearings."

OK, so if we have bearings that are low quality, the lubricant will extend the lives of those bearings. If we have bearings in wind turbines that in very windy areas, lubricant will extend the lives of those bearings. It will extend the life of any bearings.

However, the fact that the new lubricant extends the life of bearings more than the previous generation lubricant does does not mean that any bearings that are lubricated with the new lubricant will always last longer than bearings lubricated with the previous generation lubricant. Why? Because there could be other factors involved.

Some bearings could be subjected to more stress than others are subjected to. So, the more stressed bearings could wear out sooner than the less stressed bearings, even if the more stressed bearings were lubricated with the new lubricant and the less stressed bearings were lubricated with the previous generation lubricant. Another factor that could make a difference is the quality of bearings. Lower quality bearings that are lubricated with the new lubricant might wear out faster than higher quality bearings lubricated with the previous generation lubricant.

We don't have information on these other factors, and, for all we know, Pacifico Power uses lower quality bearings, and those bearings are subjected to high levels of stress, while Atlantico Power uses higher quality bearings, and those bearings are subjected to less stress. In such a case, or in any other case in which another factor would cause Pacifico Power's bearings to wear out sooner than Atlantico Power's bearings, even though Pacifico Power uses a more effective lubricant, its bearings might wear out more quickly than will Atlantico Power's bearings.

So, the information we have does not show that A is necessarily true.

Now, contrast A with B.

B. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the lubricant used in the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines, Atlantico Power's bearings would last longer than they will.

All B says is that certain wind turbines lubricated with the new lubricant will last longer than they would have. Because B is about the same turbines lasting longer with different lubricant, it isolates the effect of the lubricant and eliminates other factors. Thus, given what the passage says, B must be true.

axbycz37 · Answer

The bearings in wind turbines are subject to extreme mechanical pressures that eventually cause breakdown. Proper lubrication of bearings  extends the life  of the bearings, and the better the lubricant used, the more the lubricant extends the life of the bearings in which it is used. A new lubricant is the best lubricant currently available, and Pacifico Power has decided to use the new lubricant in all of the bearings in its new turbines. Atlantico Power, on the other hand, is still using a previous generation lubricant in the bearings in all of its turbines.

If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true?

A critical part of the argument is highlighted above - Proper lubrication  EXTENDS  the life of the bearings. So a question could be asked - What is the life of the bearing? Keeping this in mind, lets look at the choices.

A. All of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines will outlast any of Atlantico Power’s bearings. -- A pretty extreme generalization. We know that the lubricant extends life of bearings as a whole. However, we cannot say whether "ALL" of the bearing will outlast. Perhaps one or more might break due to other reasons - Eliminate

B. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the lubricant used in the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines, Atlantico Power's bearings would last longer than they will. -- Sound logical. If a better lubricant is used by Atlantico, the life of its bearings will increase. - Let's keep this.

C. Were Pacifico Power to use in its new turbines’ bearings the lubricant used in Atlantico Power’s bearings, the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines would not outlast Atlantico Power’s bearings. -- Tempting. But we know that the lubricant only extends the life of the bearings. We still dont know whether both the companies use the bearings of the same quality. It is possible that one of them might be using a kind of bearings that has a longer life inherently - Eliminate

D. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the new lubricant, they would last as long as the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines. -- Again as in option C we can't say this - Eliminate

E. None of Pacifico Power’s bearings that were lubricated with the previous generation lubricant will last as long as will any of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines. -- This is again an exaggerated choice like option A - Eliminate

Correct Answer - B

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. All of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines will outlast any of Atlantico Power’s bearings.
This is a strong statement which ignores other factors that might hinder the new turbines to outlast

B. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the lubricant used in the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines, Atlantico Power's bearings would last longer than they will.
This can be infered since the lubricants play a significant role

C. Were Pacifico Power to use in its new turbines’ bearings the lubricant used in Atlantico Power’s bearings, the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines would not outlast Atlantico Power’s bearings.
Thst's subjective since the lubricant might be quite similar in properties

D. If Atlantico Power’s bearings were lubricated with the new lubricant, they would last as long as the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines.
This is never possible with the current premise

E. None of Pacifico Power’s bearings that were lubricated with the previous generation lubricant will last as long as will any of the bearings in Pacifico Power’s new turbines.
The effeciency of the lubricant is subjective approximately the same properties therby limiting the days 
Hence IMO B

VerbalBot · Answer

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The bearings in wind turbines are subject to extreme mechanical

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