When airplanes are taken out of service for maintenance, they are

Question

When airplanes are taken out of service for maintenance, they are often repainted. Having an airplane out of service is extremely costly to an airline, and during repainting, no other maintenance can be done. In an attempt to reduce expenses associated with maintenance, airline officials are considering using a new plastic film, which is applied in sheets, instead of paint. However, the film is more expensive than paint, lasts no longer, and takes as long to apply.

Which of the following, if true, argues most strongly that use of the film will help the airline officials in their attempt to reduce expenses?

A. While the film is being applied, other workers can do maintenance work on the plane.

B. Unlike paint, the film gives a milky tone to certain colors.

C. The film can be applied only by technicians who have received special training.

D. The metal exteriors of airplanes have to be protected from high temperatures and caustic chemicals such as exhaust gases.

E. Special ripples in the film reduce a plane’s air resistance and thus reduce fuel costs.

Bunuel · Answer

Similar Strengthen question from GMAT Prep (Classic) mocks: https://gmatclub.com/forum/when-an-airp ... 63230.html

MartyMurray · Answer

When airplanes are taken out of service for maintenance, they are often repainted. Having an airplane out of service is extremely costly to an airline, and during repainting, no other maintenance can be done. In an attempt to reduce expenses associated with maintenance, airline officials are considering using a new plastic film, which is applied in sheets, instead of paint. However, the film is more expensive than paint, lasts no longer, and takes as long to apply.

Which of the following, if true, argues most strongly that use of the film will help the airline officials in their attempt to reduce expenses?

The correct answer to this Strengthen question will help to confirm that the use of the film will help the officials in "their attempt to reduce expenses."

Key to identifying the correct answer and avoiding a trap choice is noting the detail on "their attempt" provided by the passage. We see that it's an "attempt to reduce  expenses associated with maintenance " specifically.

A. While the film is being applied, other workers can do maintenance work on the plane.

This choice is interesting.

One maintenance-related issue mentioned by the passage is that "Having an airplane out of service is extremely costly to an airline, and  during repainting, no other maintenance can be done. "

See we can see that, if this choice is true, then, by using the film, airlines could reduce the amount of time airplanes are out of service for maintenance by having other maintenance work done while the film is being applied. By doing so, airlines could reduce maintenance costs associated with having planes out of service.

So, this choice provides reason to believe that using the film will help officials in their attempt to reduce maintenance expenses.

Keep.

B. Unlike paint, the film gives a milky tone to certain colors.

There's no reason to believe that colors having a milky tone would help airlines reduce expenses.

Eliminate.

C. The film can be applied only by technicians who have received special training.

If anything this choice goes in the wrong direction.

After all, if the film can be applied only by technicians who have received special training, then it seems likely that the process of applying the film is expensive. After all, to have technicians who have received special training apply the film, airlines would have to either train technicians or pay enough to have trained technicians do the work.

Eliminate.

D. The metal exteriors of airplanes have to be protected from high temperatures and caustic chemicals such as exhaust gases.

The fact that the exteriors of airplanes have to be protected doesn't mean that using the film to protect them will serve to reduce expenses.

After all, presumably, the paint that airlines have been using protects the exteriors of planes.

Eliminate.

E. Special ripples in the film reduce a plane’s air resistance and thus reduce fuel costs.

To avoid choosing this trap choice, we have to notice the key detail of the passage mentioned above.

The correct answer must provide reason to believe that using the film will help airline officials in "an attempt to reduce expenses  associated with maintenance ."

This choice does indicate that using the film will help them reduce expenses, but by serving to reduce fuel costs, not maintenance expenses.

So, this choice doesn't do what we need.

Eliminate.

Correct answer:   A

guddo · Answer

When airplanes are taken out of service for maintenance, they are often repainted. Having an airplane out of service is extremely costly to an airline, and during repainting, no other maintenance can be done. In an attempt to reduce expenses associated with maintenance, airline officials are considering using a new plastic film, which is applied in sheets, instead of paint. However, the film is more expensive than paint, lasts no longer, and takes as long to apply.
 
 Which of the following, if true, argues most strongly that use of the film will help the airline officials in their attempt to reduce expenses?

The passage tells us that the major expense is not just the paint itself, but also the cost of having airplanes out of service. It also tells us that during repainting, no other maintenance can be done.  So the best answer will reduce downtime or allow maintenance to be done more efficiently .

A. While the film is being applied, other workers can do maintenance work on the plane.

This is correct. Even though the film is more expensive and takes just as long to apply, it allows other maintenance work to be done at the same time. That reduces the need for additional out-of-service periods and therefore reduces overall maintenance-related expenses.

B. Unlike paint, the film gives a milky tone to certain colors.

This concerns appearance, not maintenance costs.

C. The film can be applied only by technicians who have received special training.

This likely increases costs rather than reducing them.

D. The metal exteriors of airplanes have to be protected from high temperatures and caustic chemicals such as exhaust gases.

This does not show any advantage of the film over paint.

E. Special ripples in the film reduce a plane’s air resistance and thus reduce fuel costs.

This could reduce operating costs, but the argument is specifically about reducing  expenses associated with maintenance . A directly addresses that goal.

Answer: (A)

TheAdmissionHub · Answer

Premises:

1. When airplanes are taken out of service for maintenance, they are often repainted

2. Taking an airplane out of service for maintenance is extremely costly to an airline.

2. During repainting, no other maintenance work can be performed on the airplane.

Conclusion:

In an attempt to reduce expenses associated with maintenance, airline officials are considering using a new plastic film, which is applied in sheets, instead of paint. However, the film is more expensive than paint, lasts no longer, and takes as long to apply.

Now we need to strengthen the the suggestion of the airplane officials, namely that the new plastic film instead of paint may help reduce maintenance-related expenses.

Which of the following, if true, argues most strongly that use of the film will help the airline officials in their attempt to reduce expenses?

A) While the film is being applied, other workers can do maintenance work on the plane. 
 Correct: There must be some advantage of the plastic film that could offset its higher cost and make it useful for reducing overall maintenance expenses. If other maintenance can be performed while the film is being applied, the airline can combine tasks and avoid additional take-out of service time later.

B) Unlike paint, the film gives a milky tone to certain colors. 
 Wrong:   appearance is not a concern . We are interested in reducing maintenance-related expenses.

C) The film can be applied only by technicians who have received special training. 
 Wrong:   this would probably make expenses go up . Anyway, we are not interested in who performs the job, but only if expenses can somehow be reduced.

D) The metal exteriors of airplanes have to be protected from high temperatures and caustic chemicals such as exhaust gases. 
 Wrong:  if extra protection is needed, maybe also extra money is needed.

E) Special ripples in the film reduce a plane’s air resistance and thus reduce fuel costs.
 Wrong:  Reducing fuel costs would save money overall, but the question is specifically about reducing expenses associated with maintenance.  Fuel savings are not maintenance savings .

When airplanes are taken out of service for maintenance, they are

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When airplanes are taken out of service for maintenance, they are

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