After the chaos following the 2000 U.S. presidential election, many

Question

New Project RC Butler 2019  -  Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday   
Passage # 160, Date : 21-APR-2019
 This post is a part of New Project RC Butler 2019 .  Click here for Details

After the chaos following the 2000 U.S. presidential election, many voters called for a complete re-examination of the voting process. Some even suggested that the two major candidates in that election, Al Gore and George W. Bush, may not have been preferred by most voters over their closest challengers in the primaries, Bill Bradley and John McCain. Many asked, "How could the winner of a primary not be the  popular  choice?" Some critics suggest that it is quite possible, and say that we should not just attempt to improve the processes of the current election system, but replace the system altogether.

The American system of one person, one vote has been in place in much the same form for over 200 years. Each citizen may cast one vote for one presidential candidate, regardless of the number of choices. For each state, these votes are used to select electors, who then vote directly for the president. Because the winner of a state's popular vote gains that state's entire electoral vote, there have been occasions when the president chosen by the Electoral College was not the winner of the national popular vote (George W. Bush being the most recent example). Such an outcome, while rare, is just one example of how our system does not always reflect the popular will.

One proposed alternative is "approval voting." In this system, each citizen would be able to cast votes for as many candidates as he or she wished. A voter could select one candidate that she favored. Or, a voter who disapproved of a particular candidate could vote for every candidate except the one that he opposed. Of course, this system, vulnerable to much confusion and intrigue, would not make the voting process simpler or clearer.

A system that might generate better results than either approval voting or the current process is called "ranking voting." In this scheme, each voter would rank candidates from first to last. Depending on the number of candidates, each position would represent a number. For instance, if there were five candidates, the candidate ranked first would get five points, the candidate ranked second would get four points, and so on. The candidate with the most points in the end would be the winner. This could mean, for example, that a candidate who was ranked second by 80% of the voters would end up with more points than one who was ranked first by 52% of the voters.

Each of these proposed systems would probably function well under certain conditions. In a situation where voters were well informed about all the candidates, the ranking system would yield the best choice. If voters were not well informed, the approval system would more consistently reflect their will. Although both systems offer noteworthy alternatives to the current process, there is not enough interest in either to make its adoption likely in the near future on a national scale.   1 
 D 
 1. What is the author's primary purpose in this passage?

a) to advocate a new voting system
b) to explain how the winner of a primary might not be the popular choice
c) to demonstrate that the current system of voting is old-fashioned
d) to explore two possible alternative methods of conducting elections
e) to argue for the adoption of ranking voting

2 
 B 
 2. What is the author's attitude toward Al Gore and George W. Bush in the first paragraph?

a) dissatisfied
b) objective
c) critical
d) compassionate
e) angry

3 
 E 
 3. Why does the author refer to Al Gore and George W. Bush?

a) to provide an example of candidates who might have been eliminated by approval voting
b) to prove that primary elections under the current system are flawed
c) to offer evidence in support of a later conclusion
d) to provide an example of candidates who may have been eliminated by ranking voting
e) to provide an example of candidates who may not have been the popular choice

4 
 A 
 4. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word popular, as it is used in paragraph 1?

a) preferred by the majority
b) socially active
c) personally likeable
d) recognized as correct
e) fashionable or trendy

5 
 D 
 5. With which of the following statements would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?

a) Approval voting is the only way to find out which candidates voters dislike, as well as which ones they like.
b) Approval voting is too confusing for the average voter to understand.
c) Both approval voting and ranking voting would be preferable to the current system.
d) Ranking voting might possibly work better than either approval voting or the existing system as a way to determine the true popular choice.
e) Ranking voting could allow a minority of voters to choose the winning candidate.

6 
 D 
 6. What role in the passage does the last sentence of paragraph 3 play?

a) It dismisses one of two possible choices as impracticable.
b) It describes the consequences of a decision in neutral terms.
c) It demonstrates that the current system is better than the alternatives.
d) It warns about the risks associated with a proposal.
e) It suggests positive and negative aspects of a plan.

dhruv2989 · Answer

I got the second question wrong. This was because I confused the author's view with the view of 'many'. Hope this helps others who stumble on the same question.

kitipriyanka · Answer

9 minutes

5/6

Got 5th Question incorrect

5. With which of the following statements would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?

a) Approval voting is the only way to find out which candidates voters dislike, as well as which ones they like.
b) Approval voting is too confusing for the average voter to understand.
c) Both approval voting and ranking voting would be preferable to the current system.
d) Ranking voting might possibly work better than either approval voting or the existing system as a way to determine the true popular choice.
e) Ranking voting could allow a minority of voters to choose the winning candidate.

I chose E- though ranking system considers ranking of all voters and not just minority.
Missed  A system that might generate better results than either approval voting or the current process is called "ranking voting."  which states D

cal123 · Answer

5. With which of the following statements would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?

a) Approval voting is the only way to find out which candidates voters dislike, as well as which ones they like.
b) Approval voting is too confusing for the average voter to understand.
c) Both approval voting and ranking voting would be preferable to the current system.
d) Ranking voting might possibly work better than either approval voting or the existing system as a way to determine the true popular choice.
e) Ranking voting could allow a minority of voters to choose the winning candidate.

Can someone please help me to explain why the following quote from the passage shouldn't sway me towards option C?
" Although both systems offer noteworthy alternatives to the current process,  there is not enough interest in either to make its adoption likely in the near future on a national scale."

kitipriyanka · Answer

prab3

The answer lies in the statement highlighted by you

'Although both systems offer noteworthy alternatives to the current process'. - these processes are good alternatives that is what this sentences conveys but it doesn't says they're preferable and that is what option C is. So we can easily eliminate C.

Hope it helps..!!

Posted from my mobile device

globaldesi · Answer

Kaplan official answers:

1.
The author first discusses problems with the current voting system, then describes two alternative systems, noting positive features of each as well as situations in which they could be problematic. We can't say that the author "advocates" (choice (A)) or "argues for" (choice (E)) either new system; these terms would be too strong. (B) is too narrow, (C) is out of scope (the author discusses a weakness of the current system, but never suggests that it's out of date). We are left with (D), which does address the overall purpose of the passage well. The purpose of the passage is to discuss dissatisfaction with the current election system and two alternative systems

2.
The author says that "some even suggested" that Gore and Bush might not have been the true popular choices in the primary elections of 2000. So, he is relaying someone else's opinion about the two candidates. We can't say that the author is dissatisfied, critical, compassionate, or angry-we don't know his own feelings about Gore and Bush at all. (B), objective, is the only one that works.

3.
The author tells us that some suggested that Gore and Bush might not have been the popular choice. (E) captures this idea precisely. (A) and (D) refer to approval and ranking voting systems, which aren't discussed until later in the passage and not in the context of the 2000 election. (B) is too strong-the Gore-Bush reference doesn't "prove" anything, it merely indicates what some critics believe. (C) is wrong because the statement about Gore and Bush isn't used as evidence supporting some conclusion later in the argument.

4.
As used here, popular means preferred by the majority of voters (by the people, the "populace"). (A) gets it right. None of the other choices relates to the subject of elections, though they're all traps, using possible definitions of "popular."

5.
(A) is too extreme-we have no basis for believing that the author thinks that approval voting is the only way to determine voters' dislikes as well as likes. (B) is also extreme. (C) might be tempting; the author calls both alternative systems "noteworthy" (paragraph 5), but doesn't say they would both be preferable to the current one. In fact, the end of paragraph 3 suggests that approval voting, open to confusion and intrigue, is not simpler or clearer than the current system. (D) is more strongly supported; the author says ranking voting "might generate better results than either approval voting or the current process" in paragraph 4. (E) is unsupported by the text.

6.
The sentence in question tells us that the approval voting system could lead to "confusion and intrigue," and wouldn't make voting simpler or clearer. Which answer choice best captures the function of this sentence?

(A) is too strong—we’re told that approval voting may have flaws, but it is not dismissed as totally impracticable. (B) isn't strong enough—the terms the author uses to describe approval voting are not neutral, but, in fact, somewhat negative. In (C), while the sentence points out flaws in approval voting, it doesn't go so far as to demonstrate that the current system is better than all alternatives. (D) does warn that the proposed system of approval voting carries with it certain risks. This answer is correct.

globaldesi · Answer

Even i missed this question. But actually if you later and also mentioned in the official explanation. The author himself negates this stmt.
I have posted OE. You can go through and check if that makes sense.
Hope that helps

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Bumping up for more discussion.

nityakaul02 · Answer

explanations for first question please

bM22 · Answer

Hi nityakaul02 , Please refer to the link for OE of Q1: https://gmatclub.com/forum/after-the-ch ... l#p2264823 Let me know if you still have doubts. Thanks.

nityakaul02 · Answer

Thank you. Actually I got confused with the word primarily. since it means initial as well as the whole (main) part.

VerbalBot · Answer

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