Trancorp currently transports all its goods to Burland Island by truck

Question

Trancorp currently transports all its goods to Burland Island by truck. The only bridge over the channel separating Burland from the mainland is congested, and trucks typically spend hours in traffic. Trains can reach the channel more quickly than trucks, and freight cars can be transported to Burland by barges that typically cross the channel in an hour. Therefore, to reduce shipping time, Trancorp plans to switch to trains and barges to transport goods to Burland.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on whether Trancorp's plan will succeed?

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on whether Trancorp's plan will succeed?

(A) It does not cost significantly more to transport goods to Burland by truck than it does to transport goods by train and barge.

(B) The number of cars traveling over the bridge into Burland is likely to increase slightly over the next two years.

(C) Because there has been so much traffic on the roads leading to the bridge between Burland and the mainland, these roads are in extremely poor condition.

(D) Barges that arrive at Burland typically wait several hours for their turn to be unloaded.

(E) Most trucks transporting goods into Burland return to the mainland empty.

Note : This passage has appeared in the OG with  a different question stem  and answer choices.

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Trancorp's plan is to switch its shipping mechanism to trains and barges in order to reduce its shipping times.  
This plan is based on trains reaching the channel quickly and the freight cars being transported via barges because of the road traffic at their only bridge. 
We need an answer choice that weakens our belief in Trancorp's plan or makes it look as if doomed to fail.

Option  (D) , here brings in  new information , which tells us that the   barges take several hours for their turn to unload  . Trancorp's primary goal is to  cut down the shipping time , and if the unloading of the barges too takes  several hours  ( order of which is unknown, maybe higher than the time lost in road traffic, or lesser, can't say ), then say, if you are an investor in Trancorp, you'd surely be having " heavy doubts " on Trancorp's new plan. So, (D) in my opinion does a pretty good job in putting a  dent  into the plans of Trancorp.

allezwart · Answer

Weaken the argument. 
Conclusion in last sentence. 
need to find an answer that shows using cars and trains does not reduce shipping time. 
ACE out b/c not relevant 
B out b/c no comment on if that effects timing. 
D is the last man standing and shows that using cars and trains takes longer i.e. weakens the argument

AndrewN · Answer

Hello, everyone. Since I dug this question out of the vault, I feel obliged to provide an Expert response, even if there are two well reasoned posts in the thread already. Notice that this is a fairly typical  weaken the plan  question. We are not being asked to weaken an argument; rather, we want to select an answer that most suggests that the plan may be ill-conceived.

Sentence one describes the current situation:  all goods  are transported to the island  by truck    Sentence two tells us that there is a single bridge to the island, and that it gets  congested , causing trucks to  spend hours in traffic    Sentence three provides insight into other modes of transportation:  trains  are faster than trucks, and  barges  can pick up the freight and relay it to the island in about  an hour    Sentence four is the plan:  to reduce shipping time , the company aims to  switch to trains and barges to transport goods

Seems like a good idea, right? Just keep in mind that the stated goal is  to reduce shipping time . It is easy to get tangled up sometimes in associative thoughts that might be present in the answer choices.

Although  cost  might fit into the equation in real life, the passage says nothing about any budget constraints. Furthermore, we would expect a weakener to say that trains and barges would cost  more  to operate, not that trucks do not cost  significantly more . If trucks may cost more at all and also take longer to transport goods, then the plan would seem all the better to implement.

More cars equals more anticipated roadway congestion, if Trancorp continues to rely on trucks for its island deliveries. Again, this consideration would seem to make the plan a better idea.

Well, if road conditions are poor, why not use trains and barges? There is no compelling reason to abandon the plan here.

Perhaps the trains could still be put to good use, but this barge relay idea is shot if the barges cannot be unloaded more efficiently. (This would be the equivalent of congestion on the water.) Again, if the goal is  to reduce shipping time , then it does not make sense to rely on these barges for the speedy transportation of goods.

I am not even sure what to make of this information. Would it make a difference if the trucks came back partially or entirely loaded (perhaps with goods to export, trash that needed to be disposed of properly, etc.)? This consideration has nothing to do with the plan to reduce the shipping time of  getting goods to the island . Keep your eyes on the prize, as the saying goes.

Perhaps the question makes more sense now. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

VerbalBot · Answer

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Trancorp currently transports all its goods to Burland Island by truck

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Trancorp currently transports all its goods to Burland Island by truck

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