GMATPrep

I can't get this posting right argghh..see below.

My rephrasing of the argument:
Markings help drivers see better, but why isn't this the case in Greatwater?

If you try to come up with an answer to that, you would get something like..
(1) Maybe something is different about Greatwater conditions
(2) Some other factor must contribute to increase in the rate.

Look at answer choices:
A. Irrelevant because even if Greatwater has a lot of narrow roads, this does not explain why markings don't help in Greatwater
B. Irrelevant. This one doesn't explain either. If it were to say that Greatwater drivers consistently experience bad weather, then this becomes a valid choice. However, the choice doesn't say that bad weather is in Greatwater. This is just a general statement.
C. Irrelevant because we care about the resulting increase. What happened before has no relation with the increase.
D. Irrelevant. Does not explain why the markings doesn't help.
E. Bingo! Maybe it is because a lot of people use those road more. Since people use more road, and markings only help, not eliminate, the accidents, then this can be a factor. This is similar to the answer in (2).

Straight E


It's a "X should decrease Y, but really Y has increased"

and yes, X may have decreased Y, but there was another factor, Z, that increased Y, and X may have increased Z.

Think about this:

X = road markers
Y = annual accidents
Z = annual traffic

so the road markers should decrease annual accidents, but annual accidents have increased; this is because road markers increased annual traffic which increased the annual accidents.

To me this is usually a "find the missing link" question. Right away you have to think there must be another reason for the increase, and usually the thing they're referring to causes it....

Hope that helps. Clear E

The rest are there just to confuse you. Do a few CR's and you'll learn to automatically recognize the BS answers without even registering them

This is def. an E.

Nothing else explains the increase. Remember we are looking to explain why the increase in accidents happened despite the fact that safety lines were painted.