Of the two proposals for solving the traffic problems on Main Street,

I didn't understand the question. Can someone help me to understand what exactly needs to be done ?

The question is asking to choose among the options, the one which has the same line of reasoning or the same structure of argument.

For eg. Argument says A lead to B and B lead to C. So, you need to the option which has the same line of reasoning where O lead to Q and Q lead R.

Regards ?

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Of the two proposals for solving the traffic problems on Main Street, Chen’s plan is better for the city as a whole, as is clear from the fact that the principal supporter of Ripley’s plan is Smith Stores. Smith Stores, with its highly paid consultants, knows where its own interest lies and, moreover, has supported its own interests in the past, even to the detriment of the city as a whole.

The faulty reasoning in which one of the following is most parallel to that in the argument above?

(A) Surely Centreville should oppose adoption of the regional planning commission’s new plan since it is not in Centreville’s interest, even though it might be in the interest of some towns in the region. - WRONG.

(B) The school board should support the plan for the new high school since this plan was recommended by the well qualified consultants whom the school board hired at great expense. - WRONG.

(C) Of the two budget proposals, the mayor’s is clearly preferable to the city council’s, since the mayor’s budget addresses the needs of the city as a whole, whereas the city council is protecting special interests.

(D) Nomura is clearly a better candidate for college president than Miller, since Nomura has the support of the three deans who best understand the president’s job and with whom the president will have to work most closely. - WRONG.

(E) The planned light‑rail system will clearly serve suburban areas well, since its main opponent is the city government, which has always ignored the needs of the suburbs and sought only to protect the interests of the city. - CORRECT.

Pc is better than Pr. Also passage gives reasoning(not the best of) why latter plan is not good.
A,B and D are easy eliminations.
C and E are contenders. C loses out minutely as it does not give enough(relatively) reasoning for why latter plan is not good.

Answer E.

Reasoning here seems to be that:
A is good since B is bad.


(A) Surely Centreville should oppose adoption of the regional planning commission’s new plan since it is not in Centreville’s interest, even though it might be in the interest of some towns in the region.
Plan A is bad since..... (Does not give an opinion on an alternate plan being better since A is bad) Not the Answer


(B) The school board should support the plan for the new high school since this plan was recommended by the well qualified consultants whom the school board hired at great expense.
A is a good plan since recommended by X ("well qualified consultants") - Not the Answer

(C) Of the two budget proposals, the mayor’s is clearly preferable to the city council’s, since the mayor’s budget addresses the needs of the city as a whole, whereas the city council is protecting special interests.
A's plan is better due to X, where B is bad due to Y ; Gives specific reasons to like A over B - Not the answer


(D) Nomura is clearly a better candidate for college president than Miller, since Nomura has the support of the three deans who best understand the president’s job and with whom the president will have to work most closely.
- A is better due to X ; - Not the answer

(E) The planned light‐rail system will clearly serve suburban areas well, since its main opponent is the city government, which has always ignored the needs of the suburbs and sought only to protect the interests of the city.
: A is better since B has always been bad ; in line with the logic in the question, hence, our answer.