Q6 - Manufactures of writing paper need

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Necessary Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: Assuming that more writing paper is of the recycled variety and that we don't develop more efficient use of fillers or new paper-whitening technologies, paper manufacturers will have to use more filler.
Evidence: If you want paper to look white, not grayish, then you add filler to paper pulp. And making white paper from recycled paper takes more filler than otherwise.

Answer Anticipation:
Ultimately, the conclusion is just "we'll have to use more filler than we use to". So if we're debating the author, we need to think of a way to argue that we WON'T use more filler than we used to. But we have to accept all the stuff packaged into the conclusion: we will use more recycled paper. We will NOT know how to use filler more efficiently and we will NOT have developed some non-filler based whitening technology. Tough one. Some people might hear the missing idea / wiggle room here, but most of us would be stumped. Let's just think to ourselves, "I need an answer that, when negated, allows me to argue that in a world where we use more recycled paper, we do NOT have to use more filler than before."

Correct Answer:
C

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) There's no reason the author needs to assume this. Whether ALL kinds of paper can be made from recycled or AT LEAST ONE kind of paper can't be made from recycled paper, this would have no effect on her argument. She's not even promising that we will use more recycled paper; she's just saying IF we do, she promises that we will need more filler than before.

(B) "Harm to the environment" is out of scope and has no bearing on the conclusion's truth value: more filler than before or not?

(C) Yes! If we negate this, it says "grayish paper WILL be a universally acceptable alternative to white paper". This allows us to argue that in a world of more recycled paper, we do NOT have to use more filler. We can just leave the recycled paper gray. After all, it's UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTABLE!

(D) Why would the author need there to be an upper limit to how white you can make paper? Would it hurt her argument if you could just keep whitening forever? No, in fact, it would play even more into the idea of using MORE filler.

(E) "Total amount of worldwide paper" seems out of scope. However, in a world of more recycled paper, we might actually use less paper overall. In that world, even if the recycled paper uses more filler than other paper would have needed, paper manufacturers might still be using less filler than they do now (because they would just be making less paper overall). The conclusion would have needed to say "more filler per sheet" if it wanted to take this total amount of paper issue off the table. The problem with E, is that it's too strong. The author doesn't have to assume that "total paper INCREASES SIGNIFICANTLY". The author needs to assume that "total paper DOES NOT decrease significantly."

Takeaway/Pattern: The hidden wiggle room in the otherwise reasonable argument was in the conditional phrasing of "IF paper is to made to look white, we need to use filler."

On Necessary Assumption, half of the correct answers are Bridge ideas that connect premise wording to conclusion wording. The other half are Defender ideas that RULE OUT a possible objection. Most of these latter type of correct answers have ruling out language like "such and such will NOT be the case". So even if we couldn't predict (C), when we see its structure, we should negate it and ask ourselves, "if gray paper WERE a universally acceptable alternative, would that weaken the author's argument?"

#officialexplanation

[kmewmewblue]

I cannot organize this argument.
Could anyone help, please?

Thank you

[timmydoeslsat]

I cannot organize this argument.
Could anyone help, please?

Thank you

It is an interesting argument.

We find out that to if paper is to look white ---> Add filler

We know that making recycled paper white requires more filler than other types of paper.

The argument concludes, with 2 exceptions made--which i will address, that if recycled writing paper comes to replace other types of writing paper, that more filler will be used than is currently used now.

The 2 exceptions to this conclusion is the idea of more efficient technology in fillers or technologies that no longer require filler at all to make paper white.

We are hunting for a necessary assumption. Really, we are looking for another possible exception to the idea that more filler will be used in the future if recycled paper takes over other forms.

Choice C is something that definitely necessary for this argument to hold. If it were true that grayish paper will be a universally acceptable alternative to white writing paper, then more filler would not have to be used, or as much, assuming whatever color it begins at.

Another necessary assumption I noticed and was prepared for was the idea that paper manufacturers are not currently supplying paper with significantly more filler than is necessary to non-recycled paper.

[hippo3717]

I was really tempted by E
because the conclusion says that the amount will "increase."

But Only reason that I dismissed E was because I didn't like worldwide;; it was too strong?

Any thoughts?

[waltw]

Hi hippo3717,
Remember that this is a necessary assumption question.
Perhaps E) strengthens the argument, but it's definitely not necessary for the argument to work.
To test this out, negate E) and we have:

The total amount of w paper manu worldwide won't increase significantly in the future.

This wouldn't destroy our argument. What if something like C) happens? So worldwide levels of w paper production stay constant, but people's demand for white paper stay constant.

To make this more concrete, currently
10 pieces of paper are produced
& in response to demand
5 pieces are white (non-recycled)
5 pieces are gray

In the future
10 pieces of paper are produced
5 pieces of paper are white (recycled)
5 are grayish

Everything is the same, except that we are using recycled paper, which requires more filler. So there would be a net increase in filler used.