V31-03

Official Solution:

The walking and bicycle paths in Greenfield Park are badly in need of maintenance, but the Parks Department does not have the funds to do the job properly. A plan has been developed to pay for the work by asking people to make a minimum donation of $3 whenever they use the paths. Which of the following, if true, most strongly indicates that the plan will be a success?

A. When polled, a majority of residents living within 10 miles of Greenfield Park thought that the paths were in need of repair.
B. The expectation of a particularly rainy summer has led officials in the Parks Department to predict that the paths in Greenfield Park will soon become greatly degraded.
C. When other nearby parks improved their walking and bicycle paths, there was an increase in the number of people who used those paths.
D. Substantial funds were raised by several other parks near Greenfield Park that put in place a policy of asking for donations from people who used the paths.
E. The gardens and playgrounds in Greenfield Park were given significant improvements during the previous spring.

CR Box:

Strengthen

1. BID (Boil It Down) The plan to pay for the park maintenance by asking people to make a minimum donation of $3 whenever they use the paths will succeed.

2. Support the underlying reasoning - Enough people will contribute to raise the needed funds.

Choice D is correct. This is the information that was sorely absent. It provides evidence that strengthens the underlying assumption that there is a willingness of path users to donate. Other NEARBY parks (helps make the sample more representative) tried the same thing, and it worked. These parks were near Greenfield, so that supports the idea that the plan will work for Greenfield.

Choice A only tells us that people in the area recognized the problem, not that they would contribute.

Choice B tells us that the problem will likely worsen, but nothing about fixing it.

Choice C tells us that other parks did see an increase in path usage after the paths were improved, but we have no idea that these people were asked to pay, and that they did actually contribute. This option makes it clear that people will like the outcome, but it provides no force to the notion that the plan of asking them to pay will actually work. We also don't know whether these other people are even representative of Greenfield Park users.

Choice E gives us background information that has no direct bearing on the potential success of the plan.



Answer: D