emission of sulfur dioxide : CR

[rte.sushil]

The emission of sulfur dioxide when high-sulfur coal is burned is restricted by law. New coal-burning plants usually comply with the law by installing expensive equipment to filter sulfur dioxide from their emissions. These new plants could save money by installing instead less expensive cleaning equipment that chemically removes most sulfur from coal before combustion.
Which of the following, if known, would be most relevant to evaluating the claim above about how new coal-burning plants could save money?
A. Whether existing oil-burning plants are required to filter sulfur dioxide from their emissions
B. Whether the expense of installing the cleaning equipment in a new plant is less than the expense of installing the cleaning equipment in an older plant
C. Whether the process of cleaning the coal is more expensive than the process of filtering the emissions
D. Whether lawful emissions of sulfur dioxide from coal-burning plants are damaging the environment
E. Whether existing plants that use the filtering equipment could replace this equipment with the cleaning equipment and still compete with new plants that install the cleaning equipment

OA : E
but as per the question, how new coal-burning plants could save money?
C seems tempting (C. Whether the process of cleaning the coal is more expensive than the process of filtering the emissions )

Please help!!

Thanks!!

[arnabgangully]

Good Question dont know what is the source

C is already provided in the CR so it cannot be the answer therefore the left over option is E.(. These new plants could save money by installing instead less expensive cleaning equipment that chemically removes most sulfur from coal before combustion)

GMAT is like that sometimes you have to go by the elimination process to reach the correct Answer.

[rte.sushil]

Good Question dont know what is the source

C is already provided in the CR so it cannot be the answer therefore the left over option is E.(. These new plants could save money by installing instead less expensive cleaning equipment that chemically removes most sulfur from coal before combustion)

GMAT is like that sometimes you have to go by the elimination process to reach the correct Answer.

sorry i don't agree that C is already provided, it is the cost of equipment which is provided not the process. The cost of process may vary. why should i assume unless assumed

Secondly, GMAT hardly repeats information in the answer choices as given in the question.

Don't you agree?

[tim]

we still need a source for this one before we can discuss it further. if it comes from one of our books, please supply the name of the book and a page number so we can verify it..

[Willy]

OA can't be E. We are asked,

Which of the following, if known, would be most relevant to evaluating the claim above about how new coal-burning plants could save money?

and we are not asked to compare the old and new plants as does option E.

OA is C.

[jnelson0612]

Hi all,
Again, please do provide the source so we can discuss this problem further.

[nitestr]

Don know where the author got the question. This is from Gmat Prep. OA: C

[tim]

Thanks for clearing that up. Let us know if there are further questions on this one.

[lindaliu9273]

OA is C.
But I just want to make sure that is B wrong because it's simply repeating the argument. And because it's not assumption/must be true/conclusion, such repeat is wrong?

Thanks....

[RonPurewal]

It's not repeating anything.

The entire argument is about new plants. (If you thought otherwise, read it again.)

Choice B is about doing something in new plants vs. doing something in older plants. We don't care about older plants at all, so, a fortiori, we don't care about any comparison between older and newer plants either.

[JaiD778]

Hi,

Just Wanted to know why E is wrong..

Thanks in Advance!

[tim]

This has been answered multiple times in the thread already. Please read the thread.

[SalomehA112]

My process step by step

1) read the entire passage carefully. This takes time, but saves you more valuable time later because you won't have to re-read question or answer options out of confusion.
2) understand what the stem asks: what do you need to evaluate the claim: how new coal-burning plants could save money?
Then, WHAT is the claim in your own words
- claim is: comparison of costs and savings between 2 different processes. You must compare both processes because how can you determine how the new coal-burning plants could save money if you have nothing to compare it to?
3) go through each answer option, and mark on your paper (notes are key, all the questions I ever get absolutely wrong are ones where I have no notes)

a) irrelevant - because points to law
b) cost, yes --> installing costs are compared, irrelevant because 1) new plant has been installed, and 2) question stem asks: how new coal-burning plants could save money, i.e. inference is that since it is in existence, so installation is irrelevant. Answer is C:
c) cost, yes --> CORRECT because we are comparing costs between the two different processes
d) irrelevant - because points to law & environment
e) irrelevant - because about competition

[tim]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Let us know if you have any further questions.