Question

Difficulty: MediumInferential Comprehension and Deduction

Read the passage below carefully:

In the timber-rich town of Sapele, Delta State, small-scale sawmills historically discarded vast mounds of sawdust into nearby waterways, causing severe ecological degradation and river clogging. Recently, a local cooperative introduced biomass briquetting technology, turning sawdust into dense, clean-burning fuel blocks for commercial bakeries and industrial kilns. While this intervention drastically reduced aquatic pollution and created an alternative revenue stream for mill operators, the initial capital outlay for hydraulic briquetting presses remained prohibitive for independent operators. Consequently, only sawmills that pooled their resources into registered clusters managed to acquire the machinery. Though local bakeries originally expressed skepticism regarding the heat efficiency of briquettes compared to traditional firewood, prolonged trial periods demonstrated that the compressed biomass maintained a more consistent temperature at a significantly lower long-term cost. As a result, market demand quickly outpaced production capacity, leading larger timber factories outside the cooperative to start purchasing raw sawdust from non-member sawmills to produce their own commercial briquettes.

Based on the passage above, evaluate whether the following statement is True or False:
The adoption of sawdust briquettes by commercial bakeries in Sapele was initiated by the bakeries actively seeking eco-friendly fuel alternatives.

Answer: Answer

Answer

False. The passage shows that commercial bakeries did not initiate the shift by seeking eco-friendly alternatives; rather, they were initially skeptical and only adopted briquettes after performance trials demonstrated cost and temperature advantages.
The statement is False. Textual evidence shows that bakeries were initially skeptical of biomass briquettes compared to traditional firewood. Their eventual adoption was not driven by a proactive search for eco-friendly alternatives, but rather by empirical trial results demonstrating thermal consistency and cost savings.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Locate references to commercial bakeries and their adoption of sawdust briquettes in the passage.
Found that local bakeries originally expressed skepticism regarding the heat efficiency of briquettes compared to traditional firewood.
To analyze the initial attitude and motivation of the bakery owners.
2
Examine how and why the bakeries eventually adopted the product.
Discovered that adoption followed prolonged trial periods that proved thermal consistency and lower long-term costs.
To evaluate whether adoption was proactive or reactive.
3
Synthesize the findings to evaluate the statement.
The statement asserts bakeries initiated the adoption by seeking eco-friendly options, which is contradicted by evidence of initial skepticism and commercial cost-driven acceptance.
To determine the true/false verdict accurately.

Key Concept

Inferential Comprehension and Deduction
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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