A taxi driver earns a flat amount per passenger plus a charge per mile

Hey,

Prior estimate: 35 percent of the money she earns per mile driven will be spent on gasoline.
For last 2 weeks: spent 45 percent of the same.

Since she is spending more money on gasoline so either she is driving more distance or using more liters of gasoline to drive the same distance.

Former case can be rejected as the estimate is already based on 'per mile'. So, it must be that the engine is sucking more gasoline per mile i.e the mileage has gone worse. Now, the mileage could have gone worse steadily every night or to a one time extreme that caused a 10 percent decrease. In either case, the taxi driver had reason to believe that on at least some nights her car’s gas mileage was worse than anticipated.
Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for the detailed analysis.

Just a small correction on Option E elimination. Here income definitely refers profit not revenue.
This option is not correct because driver is charging based on amount per passenger not based on amount per mile. No information is provided about passengers per mile so even if driver spent more amount on gas , he can still make more money if there were more passengers during the trips.

OE
The question stem asks which answer choice is most strongly supported. Since the correct answer choice must be supported by the passage, this is an inference question. Do not bother breaking the passage into its conclusion, premise, and assumption for inference questions. Instead, focus on what the passage states directly. The correct answer must be true based on the facts in the passage. The passage states that the taxi driver estimates that approximately 35 percent of the money she earns per mile driven will be spent on gasoline. However, the taxi driver has in fact spent about 45 percent of the money she earns per mile on gasoline. The taxi driver then noticed that her tires were somewhat underinflated, which would negatively affect her car’s gas mileage. Now evaluate the answer choices.

Choice A: No. Steadily gotten worse is extreme language. There is no evidence in the passage to indicate the rate of change of the taxi driver’s gas mileage.

Choice B: Correct. The passage indicates that the taxi driver was aware that her car’s gas mileage was worse than anticipated before she discovered the issue with her tires.

Choice C: No. Perfect maintenance is out of scope. The passage provides no indication about the state of the maintenance of the vehicle at the beginning of the two weeks.

Choice D: No. Fluctuated greatly is extreme language. There is no evidence in the passage to indicate the specific gas mileage on any particular day as the passage only indicates the average over two weeks.

Choice E: No. The taxi driver’s overall income is out of scope. No information is provided about the taxi driver’s overall income.

The correct answer is choice B.

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