Find all School-related info fast with the new School-Specific MBA Forum

 It is currently 20 Oct 2016, 13:44

### GMAT Club Daily Prep

#### Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

# Events & Promotions

###### Events & Promotions in June
Open Detailed Calendar

# With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago

Author Message
TAGS:

### Hide Tags

Manager
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 226
Followers: 2

Kudos [?]: 226 [0], given: 6

With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago [#permalink]

### Show Tags

07 Dec 2009, 02:03
1
This post was
BOOKMARKED
00:00

Difficulty:

(N/A)

Question Stats:

23% (02:41) correct 77% (02:08) wrong based on 10 sessions

### HideShow timer Statistics

With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago for $75,000, your property tax would be approximately$914 a year (1 percent of $75,000 increased by 2 percent each year for 11 years); and if your neighbor bought an identical house next door to you for$200,000 this year, his tax would be $2,000 (1 percent of$200,000). Without Proposition 13, both you and your neighbor would pay $6,000 a year in property taxes (3 percent of$200,000).
Which of the following is the conclusion for which the author most likely is arguing in the passage above?
(A) Proposition 13 is unconstitutional because it imposes an unequal tax on properties of equal value.
(B) If Proposition 13 is repealed, every homeowner is likely to experience a substantial increase in property taxes.
(C) By preventing inflation from driving up property values, Proposition 13 has saved homeowners thousands of dollars in property taxes.
(D) If Proposition 13 is not repealed, identical properties will continue to be taxed at different rates.
(E) Proposition 13 has benefited some homeowners more than others.
Manager
Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 154
Followers: 3

Kudos [?]: 163 [0], given: 4

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

07 Dec 2009, 02:27
It's an inference quest, so the answer should be very soft. Avoid extreme words.

A. unconstitutional? No

B. Tempting. But, market price could drop significantely. Notice word EVERY in B. One could buy a house for 200.000 five years ago, and now it costs 150.000. In this case B falls apart. OUT

C. Infation is not a main subject here. OUT

D. Market price for houses could be the same as inflation. In this case D falls apart.

E. Very accurate conclusion. I think, it's an answer.
Manager
Joined: 13 Nov 2009
Posts: 64
Schools: Columbia(RD-ding w/o int),
Followers: 1

Kudos [?]: 11 [0], given: 0

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

07 Dec 2009, 14:32
Yikes! What an ugly question!

I am torn between B & E. I would go with B on exam day.
Manager
Joined: 23 Apr 2009
Posts: 70
Location: Texas
Followers: 1

Kudos [?]: 4 [0], given: 4

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

09 Dec 2009, 13:16
smashzone wrote:
Yikes! What an ugly question!

I am torn between B & E. I would go with B on exam day.

It was between those 2 for me also, but I would choose E. The words "every" & "substantial" turned me away from B since they seem too extreme.
Manager
Joined: 02 Nov 2009
Posts: 70
Schools: INSEAD- WL, IE - Apr 2011
Followers: 1

Kudos [?]: 12 [0], given: 1

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

09 Dec 2009, 14:29
Manager
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 226
Followers: 2

Kudos [?]: 226 [0], given: 6

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

09 Dec 2009, 14:48
The OA for this is B.
But i'm not convinced not one bit.

If he can talk about repealing then what makes D incorrect.
What exactly in the argument has helped u guys to narrow it down to B or E? Plz explain

Folks can we discuss this plz? I wud really appreciate
only 8 days left for my GMAT and such questions are just tearing down my confidence
Manager
Joined: 29 Jul 2009
Posts: 123
Location: France
GPA: 3.95
WE: Information Technology (Computer Software)
Followers: 5

Kudos [?]: 102 [0], given: 15

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

10 Dec 2009, 22:21
papillon86 wrote:
The OA for this is B.
But i'm not convinced not one bit.

If he can talk about repealing then what makes D incorrect.
What exactly in the argument has helped u guys to narrow it down to B or E? Plz explain

Folks can we discuss this plz? I wud really appreciate
only 8 days left for my GMAT and such questions are just tearing down my confidence

Option (E) is wrong because, "Proposition 13 is not going to help some homeowners more than others - both the homeowner will pay 1% of the property as a tax".
_________________
Senior Manager
Joined: 18 Aug 2009
Posts: 303
Followers: 3

Kudos [?]: 254 [0], given: 9

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

15 Dec 2009, 23:14
papillon86 wrote:
With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago for $75,000, your property tax would be approximately$914 a year (1 percent of $75,000 increased by 2 percent each year for 11 years); and if your neighbor bought an identical house next door to you for$200,000 this year, his tax would be $2,000 (1 percent of$200,000). Without Proposition 13, both you and your neighbor would pay $6,000 a year in property taxes (3 percent of$200,000).
Which of the following is the conclusion for which the author most likely is arguing in the passage above?
(A) Proposition 13 is unconstitutional because it imposes an unequal tax on properties of equal value.
(B) If Proposition 13 is repealed, every homeowner is likely to experience a substantial increase in property taxes.
(C) By preventing inflation from driving up property values, Proposition 13 has saved homeowners thousands of dollars in property taxes.
(D) If Proposition 13 is not repealed, identical properties will continue to be taxed at different rates.
(E) Proposition 13 has benefited some homeowners more than others.

I'd seen this recently and chose E (spend around 4-5 mins on the Q too! so was disappointed to see OA: B)
"1 percent of $75,000 increased by 2 percent each year for 11 years" is the statement that threw me off-track and approx. calculated for 11 yrs. the cheaper house showed higher taxes compared to$6000x11yrs.

If we just look at $914 and$2000 then, B makes sense as both of them have substantial increase to $6000. Thats the logic for B i guess. Senior Manager Joined: 01 Mar 2009 Posts: 372 Location: PDX Followers: 6 Kudos [?]: 86 [0], given: 24 Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink] ### Show Tags 16 Dec 2009, 18:05 What a terrible question .. the answer should be B (A) Proposition 13 is unconstitutional because it imposes an unequal tax on properties of equal value. This is not true because properties are not of equal value. What you paid 11 years back is not equal to the amount of 200,000$ today.
(B) If Proposition 13 is repealed, every homeowner is likely to experience a substantial increase in property taxes.
Yes, this is very clear. 6000$is a substantial increase from 2000$ and from the argument's perspective every homeowner will incur this charge.
(C) By preventing inflation from driving up property values, Proposition 13 has saved homeowners thousands of dollars in property taxes.
This is completely out of scope.
(D) If Proposition 13 is not repealed, identical properties will continue to be taxed at different rates.
Again no mention of 'different' tax rates and that cannot be inferred either.
(E) Proposition 13 has benefited some homeowners more than others.
We cannot conclude this at all. There's only a comparison of 'identical homes' .. so we cannot generalize and say 'some are benefited more than the others'.
_________________

In the land of the night, the chariot of the sun is drawn by the grateful dead

Senior Manager
Joined: 22 Dec 2009
Posts: 362
Followers: 11

Kudos [?]: 358 [0], given: 47

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

17 Jan 2010, 12:05
papillon86 wrote:
The OA for this is B.
But i'm not convinced not one bit.

If he can talk about repealing then what makes D incorrect.
What exactly in the argument has helped u guys to narrow it down to B or E? Plz explain

Folks can we discuss this plz? I wud really appreciate
only 8 days left for my GMAT and such questions are just tearing down my confidence

You can have a look at this thread....
http://gmatclub.com/forum/with-proposition-89250.html#p675362
_________________

Cheers!
JT...........
If u like my post..... payback in Kudos!!

|For CR refer Powerscore CR Bible|For SC refer Manhattan SC Guide|

~~Better Burn Out... Than Fade Away~~

Intern
Joined: 25 Nov 2009
Posts: 2
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 1

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

29 Jan 2010, 11:03
As i know " every" is one of the killer words according to sense of Gmat.
so b cannot be the OA.

Intern
Joined: 02 Jan 2010
Posts: 26
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 1 [0], given: 1

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

29 Jan 2010, 12:00
B is the conclusion and D & E are facts based on the CR
Manager
Joined: 22 Jan 2010
Posts: 121
Followers: 2

Kudos [?]: 4 [0], given: 15

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

29 Jan 2010, 14:45
What a horrible question. I'm going with B, but still won't be confident with the answer.
Intern
Joined: 28 Jan 2010
Posts: 3
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 1 [0], given: 0

Re: Very close options : Need explanation [#permalink]

### Show Tags

29 Jan 2010, 15:50
Author gives fact about two similar properties with same price and different tax. Also he states that without prop 13 both of the house owners will be paying same amount.
A- Constitutionality is not discussed.
B- Looks like a candidate but too extreme in using word "EVERY"
C- prevention of inflation is not authors intent, he is trying to compare two neighbors affected by prop 13
D- It is a not about repealing prop 13 either.
E - This is a conclusion that fill be attested by the above mentioned premises.
my choice is E
Senior Manager
Status: Student
Joined: 26 Aug 2013
Posts: 265
Location: France
Concentration: Finance, General Management
Schools: EMLYON FT'16
GMAT 1: 650 Q47 V32
GPA: 3.44
Followers: 2

Kudos [?]: 56 [0], given: 401

Re: With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago [#permalink]

### Show Tags

07 Jan 2014, 02:58
B is correct! The magic word here is without!

hope it helps
_________________

Think outside the box

Intern
Joined: 14 Nov 2012
Posts: 4
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 2

Re: With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago [#permalink]

### Show Tags

08 Jan 2014, 08:54
B is the correct answer : every homeowner ---- substantial increase...
Re: With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago   [#permalink] 08 Jan 2014, 08:54
Similar topics Replies Last post
Similar
Topics:
With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago 11 03 Nov 2008, 22:36
1 With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago 3 24 Jul 2008, 13:29
With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago 3 21 Jun 2008, 11:30
With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago 1 08 Jan 2008, 11:16
4 With Proposition 13, if you bought your house 11 years ago 4 14 Mar 2007, 22:10
Display posts from previous: Sort by