If the needle on an industrial sewing machine becomes badly worn, the article being sewn can be ruined. In traditiona...

Victoria on April 8, 2021

Hi @amarachicynthia,

Happy to help!

The author tells us that an acoustic device that detects wear in sewing machine needles is expected to become standard equipment in automated apparel factories.

Why? Because if a needle becomes badly worn, the article being sewn may be ruined. As factories become more automated, it becomes inefficient for factories to hire people to monitor needles, a task which used to be performed by the person operating the sewing machine.

Answer choice (A) is incorrect because the author tells us no information which allows us to draw a comparison between the acoustic device's effectivity and the workers' effectivity.

Answer choice (B) is incorrect because we do not learn anything about the role that people will play in automated factories. We simply learn that it would be inefficient for workers to be hired for the sole purpose of monitoring needles.

Answer choice (C) is incorrect because we only learn that traditional factories have employees who operate sewing machines. This does not necessarily mean that the factories have no automated equipment.

Answer choice (E) is incorrect because, while the passage implies that worn-down needles sound different than non-worn-down needles (due to the use of an acoustic device), we cannot necessarily conclude that they are louder.

Finally, answer choice (D) is correct because, if needles wore out at predictable rates, then factories could either hire a group of employees to change the needles at regular intervals or needle monitoring could become automated.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions.