jlgdr wrote:
RaviChandra wrote:
Brownlea’s post office must be replaced with a larger one. The present one cannot be expanded. Land near the present location in the center of town is more expensive than land on the outskirts of town. Since the cost of acquiring a site is a significant part of the total construction cost, the post office clearly could be built more cheaply on the outskirts of town.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument’s stated conclusion?
(A) The new post office will have to be built in accordance with a demanding new citywide building code.
(B) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, it will require a parking lot, but if sited near the present post office it will not.
(C) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, current city bus routes will have to be expanded to provide access.
(D) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, residents will make decreased use of post office boxes, with the result that mail carriers will have to deliver more mail to homes.
(E) If the new post office is built near the center of town, disruptions to city traffic would have to be minimized by taking such steps as doing some construction work in stages at night and on weekends.
I picked D as well...Would anyone clarify what's the OA please?
Cheers!
J
Kudos Rain!
Hello J.
I'm glad to help.
Probably, you missed the conclusion a bit. So D is quite attractive answer, but D is wrong. OA is B.
ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:Fact: Brownlea’s post office must be replaced with a larger one. The present one cannot be expanded. Fact: Land near the present location in the center of town is more expensive than land on the outskirts of town.
Fact: Since the cost of acquiring a site is a significant part of the total construction cost,
Conclusion: the post office clearly could be built more cheaply on the outskirts of town.
Determining conclusion correctly is KEY.
The conclusion only focuses on CONSTRUCTION COST. The conclusion
does NOT address future revenues or something like that.
ANALYZE EACH ANSWER:
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument’s stated conclusion?
(A) The new post office will have to be built in accordance with a demanding new citywide building code.
Wrong. Out of scope. Nothing about building code.
(B) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, it will require a parking lot, but if sited near the present post office it will not.
Correct. Total Construction cost = Acquiring site cost + Building parking lot cost. The cost to build a parking may affect the conclusion negatively. Thus, B is correct answer.
(C) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, current city bus routes will have to be expanded to provide access.
Wrong. Expanding city bus routes is NOT the cost of building a post office.
(D) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, residents will make decreased use of post office boxes, with the result that mail carriers will have to deliver more mail to homes.
Wrong. SHELL GAME. D talks about the
future revenue of the post office. But the future revenue does not affect anything to total building cost. Decreasing revenue and cheap building cost are two different categories. Keep in mind,
The conclusion does not ask you to evaluate the plan of building a post office benefit or not. It only addresses the INITIAL cost – COST of building a post office. That's it.
(E) If the new post office is built near the center of town, disruptions to city traffic would have to be minimized by taking such steps as doing some construction work in stages at night and on weekends.
Wrong. Out of scope. Nothing about disruption to city traffic.
Hope it helps.