Official Explanation
Answer: (E)
csaluja - Hope this will be helpful.
With ‘except’ questions, it is best to go through each answer choice. In this case, we are looking for an answer choice that does NOT help explain the increase in motorists caught by traffic cameras.
Initially (A) may seem irrelevant. The last part of the sentence does give helpful info: “…more highways…cameras.”
(B) gives us a good reason for the increase: more traffic cameras.
(C) is out because more vehicles on the road means more cars to ticket.
(D) describes what is known as a speed trap. If there is a sudden drop in the posted limited, motorists are more likely to get tickets. Thus (D) can account for the increase in tickets.
(E) may ostensibly provide an answer for the increase: drivers do not know they are being ticketed. But wait… from the very beginning drivers did not know they were being ticketed. Nothing has therefore changed from one June to the next. Therefore, (E) does not provide any insight into the increase; it is our answer.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can you explain more why (E) is correct?Again, we're specifically looking for a reason why the cameras caught more people. The point is that last June, there were cameras that the motorists didn't know about, and this June, the situation is the same. Nothing has changed from a year ago: motorists were not aware of the cameras last June and they remain oblivious a year later. There's no change given in (E). If nothing has changed, then that cannot explain the increase in the number caught by cameras.
Why isn’t choice A correct? Doesn’t the fact that police are pulling over fewer motorists mean that (A) does not account for the trend cited in the passage?We're not concerned with the total number of people caught, nor about the relationship between police activity and the cameras.
The question specifically asks about reasons for "an increase in the number of motorists caught speeding by traffic cameras."
(A) explains this trend because it includes an increase in cameras, which could logically result in an increase in people caught speeding by cameras. As long as there are more cameras being installed and more people are caught that way, it would explain the phenomenon. What the police do is basically irrelevant.
Why isn’t choice C correct?Firstly, let’s be clear on the phrase “in the last year…” This means that since last June, the population of Endsville has increased. Therefore, there are more vehicles on the road, and this fact can help to explain why more people are getting caught speeding. We don’t have to assume that all the newcomers are speeders, only that some of them will at some point in time speed and be caught by a camera. Therefore the total number of people caught by cameras will have gone up since last year.
What about choice D?(D) provides a reason for the increase in the number of motorists caught speeding. If there is a sudden drop in the posted speed limit, it's likely that more motorists will be over the now-lower speed limit, so they are more likely to get tickets. Thus (D) can account for the increase in tickets.