Q26

[youmin.moon]

I know (A) is not the problem integrated steel producers are faced with, but I don't understand how I can assure that other choices are right ones, for especially (D). Can anyone explain where exactly I can find the proof for other 4 choices? Thanks.

[ohthatpatrick]

This is definitely an annoying EXCEPT detail-retrieval type question, because the answers pull from all over the passage.

Essentially, since the main point of the passage is that the integrated producers struggle while the minimills and specialty mills do alright, we can eliminate any answers that use a trait we know applies to integrated producers as well as any answers that are the OPPOSITE of what we know about minimills/specialized.

Check out the answers ...
(A) nothing about needing raw materials in the passage

(B) "equipment is old and less automated" (32-33) + "excessive labor" (31) = "more need for people"

(C) "capital-intensive front end" (54) = "spends heavily on capital equipment"

(D) Specialty mills' "flexibility in their operations to fulfill a customer's particular specifications" (27-28) = opposite of "unable to produce quickly different varieties required by certain customers"

(E) "Their equipment is old" (32) = "machines were manufactured in the 1920s"

Hope this helps.