A company that disposes of industrial waste employs dozens of people

Question

A company that disposes of industrial waste employs dozens of people in jobs that are considered quite hazardous. The company obeys federal regulations governing workplace safety, and to comply with new regulations instituted to avoid recently discovered risks from airborne particulate matter, company engineers were required to install extremely expensive air-filtering equipment. However, despite the expense of the air-filtering equipment, the company’s operating costs for the quarter were considerably lower than normal.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?

A. More than half the company’s expenditures to maintain worker safety go to pay for protective garments, yet only a small percentage of such expenditures go to pay for nose and mouth filters.
B. Expensive shutdowns to prevent contamination that were periodically required prior to the installation of the air-filtering equipment are no longer necessary.
C. The company’s costs of labor, which make up a large fraction of operating costs, increased during the same period.
D. When the air-filtering equipment was installed in the waste disposal facility, the company took the opportunity to upgrade the temperature control equipment.
E. The majority of the company’s employees work in the areas of the plant in which the air-filtering equipment was installed.

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bv8562 · Answer

B IMO

Installation of the extremely expensive air-filtering equipment must have helped company to save money in some way.

pudu · Answer

B. Expensive shutdowns to prevent contamination that were periodically required prior to the installation of the air-filtering equipment are no longer necessary.

because shutdown means lost of operation and lost of revenue. periodic shutdown and restart usually increase the operating cost. New equipment installation avoided this.

Abhishek009 · Answer

EXPECTED : x(Installing Exp Equip)--------->y (Operating Cost) ↑
RESULTS : x(Installing Exp Equip)--------->y (Operating Cost) ↓

(A) 51% expenses go for maintaining worker safety equipments BUT 5% (Say) goes for nose and mouth filters - Compares expenses, had this been the cost of maintaining worker safety equipments went down significantly then it would have reduced operating costs and would have been correct.

(B) EXPENSIVE is an important word, if that is reduced then expenses (Operating Cost) are ↓

(C) How does cost of labour play a role in installation of Expensive equipments ?

(D) What role does upgrading the temperature control equipment have on reduction of operating cost - Irrelevant.

(E) Say 60% work in the areas of the plant in which the air-filtering equipment was installed - HOw does it reduce operating cost ?

Among the given options only (B) reduces operating costs and is undoubtedly correct !!!

Bunuel · Answer

PRINCETON REVIEW OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

B

Resolve the Paradox: How can operating costs be lower when the new equipment is so expensive?

(A) No. This is out of scope. We are concerned with air-filtering equipment, not garments or facial filters.

(B) Yes. Here we are given an explanation of how operating costs could go down (the shutdowns, with their expense, are eliminated) even as the new equipment is present. The equipment actually forestalls additional costs.

(C) No. This tells us that operating costs went up, not how they went down.

(D) No. This answer choice also tells us about how operating costs went up, not how they went down.

(E) No. Though this answer choice does give some details about the new equipment, it doesn’t tell us why operating costs could have gone down.

VerbalBot · Answer

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A company that disposes of industrial waste employs dozens of people

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A company that disposes of industrial waste employs dozens of people

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