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Solutions

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Question

The OLEX Petroleum Company has recently determined that it could cut its refining costs by closing its Grenville refinery and consolidating all refining at its Tasberg refinery. Closing the Grenville refinery, however, would mean the immediate loss of about 1,200 jobs in the Grenville area. Eventually, the lives of more than 10,000 people would be seriously disrupted. Therefore, OLEX’s decision, announced yesterday, to keep Grenville open shows that at OLEX social concerns sometimes outweigh the desire for higher profits.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument given?


 

Option A:

The Grenville refinery, although it operates at a higher cost than the Tasberg refinery, has nevertheless been moderately profitable for many years.

Option B:

Even though OLEX could consolidate all its refining at the Tasberg plant, doing so at the Grenville plant would not be feasible.

Option C:

The Tasberg refinery is more favorably situated than the Grenville refinery with respect to the major supply routes for raw petroleum.

Option D:

If the Grenville refinery were ever closed and operations at the Tasberg refinery expanded, job openings at Tasberg would to the extent possible be filled with people formerly employed at Grenville.

Option E:

Closure of the Grenville refinery would mean compliance, at enormous cost, with demanding local codes regulating the cleanup of abandoned industrial sites.

Difficulty Level

Medium

Solution

Option E is the correct answer.


Option Analysis

Question type: Weaken the argument.  

Summary of the argument: The argument says that the OLEX is more socially concerned than it is concerned about its profits because it has decided not to close its Grenville’s plant because some 1000 people will be disrupted.  

 

A) We are not worried about the profits that the Grenville refinery.  

B) We need the answer choice to either talk about profit or social concern. This option doesn’t talk about both.  

C) Same as B. This option talks about the location and hence doesn’t contribute to the logic of the argument.  

D) This doesn’t say that OLEX is money minded.  

E) Correct Answer 





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