City Controller: 63% of our residents voted to approve the

I will go with E.
The contradiction is because the City Controller is referring to local residents but the Mayor is referring to a survey whose participants could be non-residents.

it would be great help if someone will help me in breaking down question stem
i am able to understand argument but not been able to find out what kind of answer choice we are supposed to find

something due to which i selected many wrong choices in mock also

This question is a resolve the paradox type question.We have to find out the choice that proves that both the contradictory opinions can be true at the same time.

E does exactly that by telling us that different people were polled in the survey quoted by the Mayor.

Different set of people can have different opinions.

Hope the above helps!!

I do not mind Kudos...

thanks a lot buddy
i face difficulty whenever a question stem is framed in a different manner
i would have attempted this question if it was mentioned that it a resolve the paradox kind of question

what is the best way to equip myself with different kind of question stem?
thanks once again

The answer to your question is ONE word- PRACTICE ....

As we practice more , we get better with each question. It takes time but it does happen...

Best of Luck...

I picked E, and this is my reasoning:
CC - says 63% of residents approve construction of new hotel.
mayor - people want to live here because of some reason.

what could be the discrepancy here? what if the survey of the mayor was not polled on people who actually reside there? Note that it is not directly implied that THOSE people who responded to city controller's poll answered in the same poll conducted by mayor.

What is the best explanation for the apparent contradiction in opinions cited by the controller and the mayor?

A. Most people believe having a small-town feel is more important than having quality schools.
might be, or might be not, there is no information that would make us believe that such is the case.

B. A locally-owned business might be able to generate as much revenue as a well-known hotel chain.
might, or might not. this is not really important to us.

C. The recent survey did not ask about preferences for a chain hotel versus a locally-owned bed and breakfast.
this is out of scope. compares CH vs. locally-owned bed and breakfast.

D. An increase in the town's revenue base may not result in additional money for the schools.
still doesn't explain the paradox presented in the argument.

E. The recent survey cited by the mayor polled people who are considering moving to the town.
aha, if people who responded in CC's questionnaire were residents, but people who responded to mayor's questionnaire were people who are not, then we have the paradox solved.

E so far is the best answer.

The passage is teliing us that the survey had been conducted toward 63% of our "residents"

Doesn''t the choice (E) refuting the stated fact?

I heard that official answers should not attack the given facts, as the choice (E) does.

IMO, choice (E) fails to explain the discrepancy, but it actually changes the whole meaning of the passage.

Choice E talks about the survey cited by the Mayor, not the controller. And the mayor does not mention anywhere that the survey that he conducted was limited to or related to the city's residents.

Let's try to tackle this question step by step.

City Controler Survey
63% Ppl ---> approved national hotel chain (NHC) because revenue increase base, so it can provide more money to schools and CS.

Mayor
New Survey:
People prefer to live in a small town with local ownership of vast mayority of business.

So we have to try to solve the contradiction between both statements.

We should ask ourselves: What have to be true on the statements so both city controller and mayor have different interpretation of surveys? Why people change view?

Things that comes into my mind before start looking the answers choice:
People that were polled are different. DIFFERENT GROUPS. When the question is about surveys, we should look if polled groups are the same.
There is more info on the mayor's survey that we don't know. For instance, that people prefer local ownership but still comfortable with non local ownership.
Although Ppl prefer local ownership of vast mayority of business, the positive impact in the revenue is preferred over having business with local ownership.

Now that we thought on some possible explanations, we can go through each answer and eliminate one by one, from WRONG to RIGHT:
(A) Most people believe having a small-town feel is more important than having quality schools.
This could be supporting the fact that the majority of people in the city controller's survey was against of the new hotel. Why the majority voted in favor in the first place?. ELIMINATE

(B) A locally-owned business might be able to generate as much revenue as a well-known hotel chain.
This statement is comparing a locally own business with the hotel chain, but does not explain why the people first approved to build the hotel. If this were the case, people should voted against the hotel's proposal. ELIMINATE.

(C) The recent survey did not ask about preferences for a chain hotel versus a locally-owned bed and breakfast.
If people in the recent survey were asked NCH vs LOH, the result of the recent survey would be the same because it says that people prefer to live in a small town resulting from local ownership. This statement wouldn't affect the conclusion of the mayor, and doesn't help to explain the contradiction. Moreover, we don't know anything about why they said yes in first place. ELIMINATE

(D) An increase in the town's revenue base may not result in additional money for the schools.
This is attacking the premise of the CC, we shouldn't look to attack the premise but to try to explain the contradiction. Furthermore, if the people think that an increase in revenue won't result in additional money for the school, why the approved it in the first place? Does not explain the contradiction. ELIMINATE.

(E) The recent survey cited by the mayor polled people who are considering moving to the town.
This is what we were looking for. There are two different groups in the surveys. Polling different people explains different results.

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