Hillsburgh and Nansensville are two major metropolitan areas only 50 m

C, D & E are out of scope. There was a tie between A & B. But A clearly states many people leave for vacation in July means there should be less & less congestion each day since people are leaving and the traffic congestion would only be one way.
I chose B because there is no train service both ways so people are stuck in traffic.

C,D and E out - Does not tell why the traffic did not improve in the first month
A - citizens leave for vacation - but do they leave via Interstate/Flights/Rails? - Incorrect.
B - Correct. Makes sense too.

Hi!
Kindly help me assessing why not A could be the answer!
As option A is in scope and relies on traffic congestion.
Thanks

the question states "which of the following, if true"....it means that all the option are true and we have to pick one that is best supported by the question stem.
A) The Metro Expressway opened up in July, a month when many of the citizens leave for vacation. we don't know what type of transportation did they use. we can hold on to this option.
B) During the month that the Metro Expressway opened, the railway workers who service the train connecting the two cities went on strike. the questions states, after the new 4lane highway, the congestion stays the same. there must be some kind of relief after opening the new highway. There might be some other factors which are causing this congestion, right? This option perfectly explains that the train workers strike is causing the congestion, so people who usually take train now are forced to drive which is causing the congestion. This option is better than A, so eliminate A.

does this make any sense??

Official Explanation

The credited answer is (B). If the train connecting the cities was no longer available, due to a strike, many more people would have to take cars, which would lead to more traffic. Even though the Metro Expressway opened, the increase in traffic due to the train strike could lead to continued congestion.

If the Metro Expressway opened when most people leave on vacation, then we would expect the traffic to be even less than usual. Even if traffic temporarily increased as people left, this would not cause increased congestion for an entire month, and if some of the commuters are away on vacation then there would be less traffic than normal on a daily basis. This certainly would not explain why the traffic would remain at a high level of congestion. Choice (A) is incorrect.

The composition of the road may have consequences several years down the line, when one of the two road may need renovation & repairs before the other does, but it doesn't explain, right now, why the new road didn't relieve traffic congestion. Choice (C) is incorrect.

If police activity decreased on the Interstate Highway, then perhaps some portion of the folks on the road feel at liberty to drive faster than the speed limit, but the influence on congestion is less clear. If the police cars split up between the two road, why wouldn't all the cars do that, resulting in less congestion overall? Choice (D) is incorrect.

If there's another expressway in the future, that might affect future traffic patterns, but that doesn't do anything to explain why, right now, there's still a great deal of traffic congestion. Choice (E) is incorrect.

Hi everyone,

Context
Hillsburgh and Nansensville are two major metropolitan areas only 50 miles apart. Until recently, the only road connecting the two cities was a traffic-clogged, six-lane Interstate Highway.

Plan to solve a problem
Six years in the making, the Metro Expressway, a four-lane road connecting the two cities, was hoped to relieve this congestion.

Paradox/conclusion
After the first month, however, the traffic along the Interstate Highway has not improved.

Which of the following, if true, could account for the continued traffic congestion along the Interstate Highway?

Pre-thinking:
This is a paradox question. The paradox is that while an alternate road was built the traffic did not decrease.
Our task is to find a reason that explains the paradox. For example: what if the other road would take twice the time than the other road to get from one city to the other?
Such scenario could explain the paradox and we are looking for an answer choice like this.

A) The Metro Expressway opened up in July, a month when many of the citizens leave for vacation.
B) During the month that the Metro Expressway opened, the railway workers who service the train connecting the two cities went on strike.
C) The new expressway is made up of a high-grade asphalt that is said to wear down less over time than the asphalt on the Interstate Highway.
D) The Hillsburgh Gazette reports that police activity along the Interstate Highway has decreased since many police are now patrolling the Metro Expressway.
E) In the next five years, both cities plan on building another expressway connecting both cities.

B offers a reason why the alternate road did not serve the purpose during the first month. Hence correct

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