University President: Seventy-two percent of our students voted in fav

Original Explanation -

Identify the Question Type:

The phrase “explanation for the apparent contradiction” indicates that this is an Explain question. Expect the answer to explain how both parts of the apparent contradiction can be true at the same time.

Untangle the Stimulus:

The discrepancy is that the Student Body President and the University President each cite a different survey, with seemingly contradictory results. The University President’s survey suggests overwhelming support for a store that’s not run by students, while the Student Body President’s survey indicates that students consider student-run businesses to be extremely valuable.

Predict the Answer:

It’s difficult to predict an exact answer for most Explain questions, but it should be enough to realize that the correct answer will explain why students would support student-run businesses in one survey but not in the other.

Evaluate the Choices:

(B) is correct, providing an excellent explanation. If the Student Body President’s survey polled only prospective students, then the populations of the two surveys are completely different: prospective students in one survey and actual students in the other. And if the populations are different, then it’s no surprise that the surveys produce different results.

(A) doesn't explain either opinion, let alone how both could be true. If a student-run business might make as much money as a food chain, then why would seventy-two percent of the students vote for the Hamburger Hut, in hopes of increasing the school’s revenue? And the Student Body President said the reason students want to run most stores is to get a feeling of an entrepreneurial community, not generate revenue.

(C) deals with what was not asked on one of the surveys. But the fact that something was not asked doesn't, by itself, explain the apparent contradictory results of what was asked on the two surveys.

If, as (D) says, most students believe the feeling of entrepreneurial community is more important than other student services, then why would they vote to replace a student-run business with Hamburger Hut, all in order to prove more money for “other student services?”

(E) casts doubt on the University President's claim that the increased school revenue from Hamburger Hut will provide more money for other students services, but does nothing to explain the apparent contradiction between the surveys.

TAKEAWAY: The answer to an Explain question must show how both parts of the apparent contradiction can be true at the same time. Watch out for choices that deal with only one part of the contradiction, or neither part.