Highway commissioner: at the present time, the forty mile stretch of i

Question

Highway commissioner : at the present time, the forty mile stretch of interstate highway from the town of Hillsborough to the city of West Fredericksport is clogged every weekday with commuter who live in Hillsborough and work in West Fredericksport. Our department is considering increasing the lanes in this stretch of the interstate highway, and the town of Hillsborough could benefit its citizens by contributing to this highway improvement.

Mayor of Hillsborough : we could contribute much more to the well-being of citizens of Hillsborough by investing that same money in a stimulus package to increase the number of jobs here in Hillsborough.

Suppose that the highway commissioner’s and mayor’s statements express their genuine opinions. Select statements (1) and (2) as follows: the highway commissioner would likely disagree with (1), and the mayor would take (2) to present logical support for (1). Select only two statement, one per column.

HMC · Answer

(1) in the first row 
(2) in the second row.

Is that correct?

Shrivathsan · Answer

Hi Mike ,

not able to understand the OA :

How is B the logical support of E ?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Shrivathsan , I'm happy to respond. :-)

For choice (1), we need something that would clearly oppose the highway commissioner’s argument. (E) does this, and it seems in line with what the mayor would argue. This is our choice for column (1). (E) If the town of Hillsborough's available funds were devoted exclusively to highway improvement, this would not be in the best interests of the citizens of Hillsborough. Notice that this phrase " best interests " is vague when we only look at this one statement. What would the mayor consider our " best interests "? Well, the mayor talks about " the well-being of the citizens of Hillsborough ." This is important. The highway commissioner is just interested in a faster commute. The term " well-being " implies a more holistic concern for overall satisfaction and fulfillment. This is what the mayor considers important. What would support the idea that if we wanted to support the " the well-being of the citizens of Hillsborough ," then spending the money on the highway wouldn't be the best move? Clearly, (B) supports this idea. This is the best choice for (2). (B) A short commute, brought about by a job close to one's residence, contributes to an individual's quality of life . The phrase " quality of life " echoes the mayor's concern for " well-being ." If what is most important is the " well-being " and the " quality of life " of the citizens of Hillsborough, then making the commute to West Fredericksport marginally better is not going to be the best use of money & effort; instead, supporting jobs in Hillsborough is a much better plan to pursue. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

Zhenek · Answer

Sigh, answered E for the first one (was kinda obvious), but D for the second one. Is it wrong coz its just weaker or am I missing something?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Zhenek , I'm happy to respond. :-)

Would you say that (D) provides clear support for (E)? Remember, the best support is not something that we can imagine supporting in some special case, but something that is clearly a support. Can you make an argument that (D) supports (E)? Mike :-)

Zhenek · Answer

Hello Mike.

Well, I guess (D) does indeed not provide a clear support. It is basically weak or imaginary.

My argument: "if funds are devoted to that specific highway (between Hillsborough and Fredricksport) improvements, then people, who work in Rock city, will not feel any of those improvements since they are not using this highway". The option says: "... 30 miles in the OTHER DIRECTION from Fredricksport", which implies that the potential highway improvements would literally do nothing for some people.

Thanks for your reply.

stormer07 · Answer

I believe that the correct answer should be A for 1) and B for 2. "Almost exclusively" in choice E is too extreme.

BottomJee · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION     
For statement (1), we need a statement that is simultaneously one with which the highway commissioner would clearly disagree, and which the mayor would clearly support.

Choice (A):  the highway commission would clearly disagree with this, but it’s not at all clear that the mayor would agree. It’s a very extreme statement: even if expanding the highway is not the very best option for the citizens of Hillsborough, that doesn’t mean it will be harmful.

Choice (B):  the mayor would clearly agree with this, but it’s not very clear that the highway commissioner would disagree: nothing in what the highway commissioner says gives any clear indication that he would disagree with this.

Choice (C):  not directly relevant: it is unclear whether either speaker would agree or disagree with this.

Choice (D):  not directly relevant: it is unclear whether either speaker would agree or disagree with this.

Choice (E):  this opposes the substance of the highway commissioner’s argument, and in some ways, it is a paraphrase of the mayor’s objection to the highway commissioner. It is clear that the highway commissioner would disagree, since it contradicts his position, and it is clear that the mayor would support this, since it is completely consistent with what she said. This is a good candidate for Statement (1).

Choice (F):  not directly relevant: while the highway commissioner might agree, it is unclear whether the mayor would agree or disagree with this.

The best choice for statement (1) is (E).

To support (E), the only remaining statement that’s relevant and with which the mayor wholeheartedly would agree is (B) — that has to be statement (2).

Statement (1) = (E)

Statement (2) = (B)

Gemmie · Answer

1: If the town of Hillsborough's available funds were devoted exclusively to highway improvement, this would not be in the best interests of the citizens of Hillsborough.
2: A short commute, brought about by a job close to one's residence, contributes to an individual's quality of life.

Analysis:

Highway Commissioner: 
Would likely disagree with statement (1): because the commissioner believes that improving the highway by increasing the number of lanes will benefit the citizens of Hillsborough by alleviating traffic congestion. Thus, they would see highway improvement as being in the best interest of the citizens.

Mayor of Hillsborough: 
Would take statement (2) to present logical support for (1): The mayor's argument is that investing in creating local jobs will shorten commutes and improve the quality of life for Hillsborough's citizens, rather than spending money on highway improvements which only address the commute to West Fredericksport.

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Highway commissioner: at the present time, the forty mile stretch of i

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(1)	(2)
		The expansion of the number of lanes in the interstate highway would be harmful to the citizens of Hillsborough.
		A short commute, brought about by a job close to one's residence, contributes to an individual's quality of life.
		Some of the new jobs in Hillsborough most likely will be in the transportation sector, and may expand the number of transportation options the citizens of Hillsborough have.
		A fraction of the citizens of Hillsborough commute to Rock City, 30 miles in the other direction from Fredericksport.
		If the town of Hillsborough's available funds were devoted exclusively to highway improvement, this would not be in the best interests of the citizens of Hillsborough.
		It is in the interest of the citizens of Fredericksport to support the expansion of the number of lanes of the interstate highway.

GMAT Two-part Analysis (TPA) Questions

Highway commissioner: at the present time, the forty mile stretch of i

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