In many communities, expanded and improved neighborhood watch programs

Question

In many communities, expanded and improved neighborhood watch programs have helped reduce the crime rate by sending a message to potential criminals that illegal activities will not go unnoticed. Studies have shown that the more that these watch programs patrol, the more crime is reduced. In some of these communities, a commitment by the local police department to provide funding and training for neighborhood watch programs has helped these programs to attract many new participants and patrol more areas for longer periods of time.

Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the statements above?

Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the statements above?

(A) Cities that have high community involvement will always have low levels of crime.

(B) City councils that decrease overall police department budgets run a high risk of increased crime levels in their community.

(C) Without strong support from their local police departments, neighborhood watch programs can never reduce crime rates successfully.

(D) Some police forces have reduced crime in their communities by providing funds to neighborhood watch programs and assigning officers to train watch leaders.

(E) The best neighborhood watch programs are run by retired police officers.

GmatPrime · Answer

(A) Cities that have high community involvement will  always  have low levels of crime.
Can't say for sure. What if the community involvement is high but funding and training limits the outcomes.

(B) City councils  that decrease overall police department budgets run a high risk of increased crime levels in their community .
Not given in the argument above. May be/ may not be true.

(C) Without strong support from their local police departments, neighborhood watch programs can  never  reduce crime rates successfully.
Again, can't say for sure. What if the community constitutes of all veterans- sure they can take down some criminals!

(D) Some police forces have reduced crime in their communities by providing funds to neighborhood watch programs and assigning officers to train watch leaders.
 Correct.  
The argument uses 'has helped'- present perfect tense. It goes to show that the initiative has already helped 'some' communities.

(E) The  best  neighborhood watch programs are run by  retired  police officers.
No mention in the argument above.

msultania · Answer

(A) Cities that have high community involvement will always have low levels of crime. (I rejected it because it contains extreme language "Always" there is no sureity and no statistics have been given in the passage)

(B) City councils that decrease overall police department budgets run a high risk of increased crime levels in their community.(This option is an assumption and cannot be inferred from the passage)

(C) Without strong support from their local police departments, neighborhood watch programs can never reduce crime rates successfully.(This is again extreme language "Never" , we do not know this, moreover this option contains added information)

(D) Some police forces have reduced crime in their communities by providing funds to neighborhood watch programs and assigning officers to train watch leaders.  (This is the summary of the passage)

(E) The best neighborhood watch programs are run by retired police officers.(New information which is not mentioned in the passage)

Option D is the correct answer

gmat1393 · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Identify the Question Type:

The question asks for something that can be "correctly inferred," making this an Inference question.

Untangle the Stimulus:

To untangle an Inference question stimulus, just read and paraphrase the statements. There is no argument to analyze. According to the author, there is a confirmed connection between neighborhood watch programs and crime rates: As studies have shown, the more area being patrolled, the lower the crime rate. Further, such programs are expanding due to funding and support from the police department.

Predict the Answer:

While it is not always possible to predict the answer to an Inference question, there are a lot of connections that can be made here. Police departments are offering funding and training, which in turn leads to more areas being patrolled. As the studies show, more areas patrolled means lower crime rate. Thus, it can be inferred that the police departments' funding and training is ultimately leading to a lower crime rate.

Evaluate the Choices:

(D) logically follows from the stimulus: some police forces have been able to reduce crime by increasing their support for neighborhood watch programs.

(A) mentions "high community involvement," but does not specify what people are involved in. And even if it was neighborhood watch programs, those are only shown to reduce crime rate. There's no guarantee the crime will be "low." It will just be lower than where it starts.

(B) distorts the information. Funding for neighborhood watch programs from police departments may help reduce crime, but that doesn't mean crime will increase without such funding.

(C) is extreme. There's no indication that neighborhood watches can "never" reduce crime without police funding. They could surely get funding from somewhere else.

(E) is entirely unsupported. There is no suggestion as to who runs the programs, let alone whether retired police officers have anything to do with them.

TAKEAWAY: Some Inference questions will contain information that can be combined to string together one complete thought.

quosaperiam · Answer

I agree with your elimination of A, B, C, and E, but I'd be a little careful with the reasoning for D. It's not really just a "summary" of the passage.
The key is the last sentence:  "In some of these communities, a commitment by the local police department to provide funding and training... has helped these programs..."  Since the passage already tells us that neighborhood watch programs have helped reduce crime, we can infer that  in at least some communities , police departments contributed to that reduction by funding the programs and training their leaders.
Also, D uses the word  "some" , which matches the passage's wording ("In some of these communities"), making it a safe inference.
I also agree that A and C are too extreme because of "always" and "never," while B and E introduce ideas that aren't supported by the passage.
I agree with your elimination of A, B, C, and E, but I'd be a little careful with the reasoning for D. It's not really just a "summary" of the passage.

The key is the last sentence: "In some of these communities, a commitment by the local police department to provide funding and training... has helped these programs..." Since the passage already tells us that neighborhood watch programs have helped reduce crime, we can infer that in at least some communities, police departments contributed to that reduction by funding the programs and training their leaders.

Also, D uses the word "some", which matches the passage's wording ("In some of these communities"), making it a safe inference.

I also agree that A and C are too extreme because of "always" and "never," while B and E introduce ideas that aren't supported by the passage.

In many communities, expanded and improved neighborhood watch programs

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In many communities, expanded and improved neighborhood watch programs

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