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There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows

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MartyTargetTestPrep
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There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 30 Mar 2019, 12:08
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15% (low)

Question Stats:

83% (01:40) correct 17% (01:51) wrong based on 138 sessions
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There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows through the city, a main bridge and two smaller bridges. Normally, when a traffic incident causes a closure of the main bridge during rush hour, the two smaller bridges become congested with vehicular traffic. However, when the roadway on the main bridge was closed for two months for maintenance, the amount of vehicular traffic on the two smaller bridges during rush hour was no greater than usual.

Which of the following, if true, best explains this surprising situation?

    A. There are bridges just outside of Argentium city limits that motorists traveling to destinations within Argentium can use to cross the river without necessarily making long detours.

    B. When aware in advance of issues that may cause traffic congestion, many people in Argentium choose to use public transportation rather than private automobiles.

    C. Many residents of Argentium ride bicycles, using special bike lanes, and thus do not contribute to traffic congestion on roadways.

    D. The two smaller bridges located in Argentium were designed to handle much more vehicular traffic than usually passes over them, even during rush hour.

    E. During the period when the roadway on the main bridge was closed for maintenance, the pedestrian walkway on the main bridge remained open.


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Originally posted by MartyTargetTestPrep on 29 Mar 2019, 17:59.
Last edited by MartyTargetTestPrep on 30 Mar 2019, 12:08, edited 1 time in total.
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MANI530
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Re: There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink] New post   12 May 2019, 00:34
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Can anyone explain why the answer cannot be Option A
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Re: There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink] New post   12 May 2019, 05:37
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MANI530 wrote:
Can anyone explain why the answer cannot be Option A

The paradox is that, ordinarily, when the main bridge is closed because of a traffic incident, the other two bridges become congested, but when the main bridge was closed for maintenance, the other two bridges did not become congested.

So, to resolve this paradox, we need to show why the result of the closure for maintenance was DIFFERENT from the results of closures because of traffic incidents.

Here's choice (A).

A. There are bridges just outside of Argentium city limits that motorists traveling to destinations within Argentium can use to cross the river without necessarily making long detours.

Does choice (A) explain why the results of the closure for maintenance were different from the results of the other closures? No, because those bridges just outside of Argentium city limits are always there. So, if the presence of those bridges doesn't cause the smaller bridges to remain uncongested when the main bridge is closed because of a traffic incident, the presence of those bridges probably wouldn't explain why the main bridge remained uncongested during the maintenance period.

Choice (B), on the other hand explains the difference, because people don't normally have advance notice of traffic incidents but would probably have been aware that main bridge was closed for maintenance. So, (B) shows how a closure for maintenance is different from a closure because of a traffic incident.
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Re: There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink] New post   12 May 2019, 23:13
Hi, we need to find explanation for the surprising situation.
A. There are bridges just outside of Argentium city limits that motorists traveling to destinations within Argentium can use to cross the river without necessarily making long detours.
If this is true, why don't motorists use these bridges on daily basis? Option can be ruled out.
B. When aware in advance of issues that may cause traffic congestion, many people in Argentium choose to use public transportation rather than private automobiles.
This is the best option among all. If motorists know in advance, they use public transport. Why would they use public transport? Because they anticipate traffic without congestion.
C. Many residents of Argentium ride bicycles, using special bike lanes, and thus do not contribute to traffic congestion on roadways.
Even if this statement is true, the passage states that there is congestion when the main bridge is closed. Ruled out.
D. The two smaller bridges located in Argentium were designed to handle much more vehicular traffic than usually passes over them, even during rush hour.
Contradictory to the information given in passage. Ruled out.
E. During the period when the roadway on the main bridge was closed for maintenance, the pedestrian walkway on the main bridge remained open.
Doesn't throw any light on the reason for surprising situation. Ruled out.

Do let me know if the explanations have any discord...
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Re: There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink] New post   13 May 2019, 08:39
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Bombsante wrote:
Hi, we need to find explanation for the surprising situation.
A. There are bridges just outside of Argentium city limits that motorists traveling to destinations within Argentium can use to cross the river without necessarily making long detours.
If this is true, why don't motorists use these bridges on daily basis? Option can be ruled out.
B. When aware in advance of issues that may cause traffic congestion, many people in Argentium choose to use public transportation rather than private automobiles.
This is the best option among all. If motorists know in advance, they use public transport. Why would they use public transport? Because they anticipate traffic without congestion.

Why would they use public transportation if the anticipate traffic without congestion? Did you mean something else?

C. Many residents of Argentium ride bicycles, using special bike lanes, and thus do not contribute to traffic congestion on roadways.
Even if this statement is true, the passage states that there is congestion when the main bridge is closed. Ruled out.
D. The two smaller bridges located in Argentium were designed to handle much more vehicular traffic than usually passes over them, even during rush hour.
Contradictory to the information given in passage. Ruled out.

This choice does not really contradict the information given in the passage. It could be that the two smaller bridges can handle more traffic than usually passes over them, yet become congested by traffic in the the amounts that pass over them when the main bridge is closed because of a traffic incident.

So, there must be another way to explain why this choice is incorrect.

E. During the period when the roadway on the main bridge was closed for maintenance, the pedestrian walkway on the main bridge remained open.
Doesn't throw any light on the reason for surprising situation. Ruled out.

Do let me know if the explanations have any discord...

Hi Bombsante. I have suggestions for two of your points, in green above.
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Re: There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink] New post   13 May 2019, 21:23
Hi, MartyTargetTestPrep
Suggestions noted. Please find below responses to some of the points that you have raised:
What I meant by saying "Why they would use public transport" is that if people know in advance and they are keen to use public transport than there might be a reason behind it. They would be anticipating reduced traffic congestion in case of using public transport.
I believe choice D is contradictory because the passage clearly states that the two smaller bridges become congested with vehicular traffic whenever there is a traffic incident on the main bridge. There is no mention of the capacity of the bridges to handle increased traffic. If choice D were true, no traffic congestion should happen during the closure of the main bridge.

I hope my line of reasoning has some merit?
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There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink] New post   13 May 2019, 21:45
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Bombsante wrote:
Hi, MartyTargetTestPrep
Suggestions noted. Please find below responses to some of the points that you have raised:

I believe choice D is contradictory because the passage clearly states that the two smaller bridges become congested with vehicular traffic whenever there is a traffic incident on the main bridge. There is no mention of the capacity of the bridges to handle increased traffic. If choice D were true, no traffic congestion should happen during the closure of the main bridge.

That reasoning is not quite correct. It could be the case that the smaller bridges can handle more traffic than they usually handle and, at the same time, that the bridges cannot handle the amount of traffic that arrives at them when there is a traffic incident on the main bridge.

For instance, each of the smaller bridges could usually handle 15 cars per minute. Each could be capable of handling 30 cars per minute. Each could be congested by the arrival of 40 cars per minute when there is a traffic incident on the main bridge.

Quote:
What I meant by saying "Why they would use public transport" is that if people know in advance and they are keen to use public transport than there might be a reason behind it. They would be anticipating reduced traffic congestion in case of using public transport.

This reasoning seems to be almost the reverse of what's implied by choice (B). What's implied by choice (B) is that people anticipate traffic problems, i.e, traffic WITH congestion, because they are aware that the main bridge is closed for maintenance, and that, therefore, because of their anticipating traffic problems, people use public transportation and, thus, cause there not to be congestion.
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There are in Argentium three bridges across the river that flows [#permalink]
13 May 2019, 21:45
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