If the public library shared by the adjacent towns of Redville and Gle

Question

If the public library shared by the adjacent towns of Redville and Glenwood were relocated from the library’s current, overcrowded building in central Redville to a larger, available building in central Glenwood, the library would then be within walking distance of a larger number of library users. That is because there are many more people living in central Glenwood than in central Redville, and people generally will walk to the library only if it is located close to their homes.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

(A) The public library was located between Glenwood and Redville before being moved to its current location in central Redville.
(B) The area covered by central Glenwood is approximately the same size as that covered by central Redville.
(C) The building that is available in Glenwood is smaller than an alternative building that is available in Redville.
(D) Many of the people who use the public library do not live in either Glenwood or Redville.
(E) The distance that people currently walk to get to the library is farther than what is generally considered walking distance.

Same passage with different stem question:  LINK

Skywalker18 · Accepted Answer

MGMAT explanation -->
The author uses two premises...

More people live in central Glenwood than in central Redville

+

Generally, people will walk to a library only if it's close to their home

To validate a conclusion...

A library in central Glenwood would be within walking distance for more people than would a library in central Redville

For all Strengthen questions, we know going in that the evidence presented is not going to be sufficient to prove the conclusion reached. We want to make sure to consider this gap between evidence and conclusion carefully before moving on to the answer choices.

Why doesn't the evidence presented here validate the conclusion?

The author is assuming that because more people live in central Glenwood, more people will be within walking distance of a library in central Glenwood. Is this valid?

Let's imagine that Central Glenwood is Los Angeles, population 3 million, and Central Redville is Irvine, population 200,000. Does that mean any library in Los Angeles is going to have more people within walking distance than any library in Irvine? Not necessarily. The library in Los Angeles might happen to be in a commercial area that doesn't have a lot of homes, and the library in Irvine might be in the middle of it's most crowded neighborhood.

In order to use information about population to prove something about population density (people within a certain radius of a certain building), we need to have information about how big a space this population lives in. Answer choice (B), by giving us this information, helps us prove that Glenwood is more densely populated than Redville.

arvind910619 · Answer

The conclusion depends on number of people walking to library once the library gets shifted to Glenwood .The argument tells us that there are more people living in Glenwood than in Redville . So more people would come to library so we have find assumption strengthener .
Now out of all the options the closest two are B and E
Lets analyse E it just tells that the distance currently walked by people is more than the distance usually considered walk able .I think this choice does not give us anything to work on .
Even if the distance is more we do not know about how many people walk to library .
May those who walk to library are fitness enthusiast .

so it better to leave it
B on the other hand tells that the area served by the library will same as it has now .There will be more number of people living in Glenwood therefore there more library users .

so it better to leave it B on the other hand tells that the area served by the library will same as it has now .There will be more number of people living in Glenwood therefore there more library users . Please correct if i am wrong in my reasoning

stne · Answer

We can make a similar argument for option B 
Even if the area of Glenwood is same as the area of Redville and if there are more people in Glenwood what if the walking distance to the library is less in Redville than in Glenwood.In this case it is better not to move to Glenwood.
E tells us that such is not the case.

Hence E could be a strengthener too.

Though I am not an expert I feel this is not too good a question.
here option B and E are too close to choose one over the other.

broall · Answer

OE from Kaplan:

The author claims that if the library shared by Redville and Glenwood were relocated from central Redville to central Glenwood, then a larger number of library users would be within walking distance of the library. Well, first of all, let’s realize that, although the two buildings are described by terms such as “overcrowded” and “larger,” the conclusion is not based on these characteristics—it’s only based on the number of people who will be within walking distance of the building. Moving on, the evidence provided is that there are many more people living in central Glenwood than in central Redville, and most people will walk to the library only if it’s near their house. To strengthen the argument, we need to fill in a missing piece. We know that there are more people living in central Glenwood than in central Redville, but we don’t know anything about the area of either city. If Glenwood has more people but they’re spread out over a larger area, then maybe moving the library won’t place it within walking distance for more people. So it would be to the argument’s advantage to show that the two areas are around the same size. (B) says just this, supporting the argument by making its evidence even more relevant.

(A) Where the library was doesn’t help convince us that the library should either move, or stay where it is. The library’s previous location is outside the scope.

(C) We’re only concerned with how accessible the library will be for walkers, so the size of the building is beyond the scope.

(D) Since we’re concerned with people who can walk to the library, (D)’s mention of people who don’t live in either town can neither strengthen nor weaken this argument.

(E) If people currently walk farther than standard walking distance, then perhaps the new library will cater to these people more readily. But we can’t assume that, because we don’t know where they’re walking from. Choice (E) is too vague to have any effect on the argument.

• To strengthen an argument, look to bolster an assumption in that argument. If you can fill in a missing piece, you’ve made the argument stronger.

auradediligodo · Answer

If the public library shared by the adjacent towns of Redville and Glenwood were relocated from the library’s current, overcrowded building in central Redville to a larger, available building in central Glenwood, the library would then be within walking distance of a larger number of library users. That is because there are many more people living in central Glenwood than in central Redville, and people generally will walk to the library only if it is located close to their homes.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
 
  Pre-thinking

Strengthen question

The assumption made here is that the 2 "items" compared, that is central redville and central glenwood, are somehow comparable. Just imagine if in central glenwood the library is not at a walking distance from the library users? Yes there are more people in central glenwood but per the argument they won't go there if the library is not at a walking distance from them. 
Here   choice B   kind of strengthens the idea that both central redville and central glenwood are similarly densely populated.

(A) The public library was located between Glenwood and Redville before being moved to its current location in central Redville.
  (B)   The area covered by central Glenwood is approximately the same size as that covered by central Redville.
(C) The building that is available in Glenwood is smaller than an alternative building that is available in Redville.
(D) Many of the people who use the public library do not live in either Glenwood or Redville.
(E) The distance that people currently walk to get to the library is farther than what is generally considered walking distance.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION (A) No. To strengthen the argument, we need to show that more people will be able to walk to the library if it is relocated to central Glenwood. The fact that the library was once located between Glenwood and Redville does not address this need. (B) Yes. This question hinges on the population densities of the cities. Suppose Glenwood’s population is twice Redville’s but that the area of Glenwood is 10 times as large as the area of Redville. Then the population density of Glenwood would be one-fifth that of Redville. Hence, fewer people in Glenwood would be within walking distance of the library. The figure below illustrates the situation: https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=60911 However, if the areas covered by central Glenwood and central Redville are roughly the same, then the population density of Glenwood would be greater than that of Redville. Hence, there would probably be more people within walking distance of the library in Glenwood than in Redville. (C) No. The argument is predicated on the distance that people must walk to get to the library. The size of the library has no affect on the walking distance. (D) No. The argument is predicated on the distance that people must walk to get to the library. People living outside both Glenwood and Redville are probably not within walking distance of either site for the library. Perhaps for these people driving distance might be a factor, but not walking distance. (E) No. If people are walking further than the common walking distance, then for these communities the further distance is “walking distance.” 2021-03-14_00-11-09.png

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.

If the public library shared by the adjacent towns of Redville and Gle

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

If the public library shared by the adjacent towns of Redville and Gle

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards