Official Solution:
In the city of Velburn, a steep increase in the number of homes with Wi-Fi-enabled security systems over the past five years has coincided with a rise in residential burglaries. Surprisingly, the neighborhoods with the highest concentration of these security systems have seen the greatest increase in burglary rates, even though the systems are designed to promptly alert homeowners and law enforcement to suspicious activity.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the apparent contradiction?
A. Some homeowners in Velburn disable motion or sound sensors to avoid false alarms, unintentionally leaving parts of their homes less secure.
B. Police response times have increased in Velburn due to a surge in non-critical emergency calls.
C. Several regions in Velburn frequently face intermittent internet connectivity issues that disrupt real-time data transmission.
D. Burglars often operate during daytime hours, when security systems are more likely to be left unarmed by homeowners.
E. A large portion of security systems in Velburn rely on cloud-based services that automatically update during nighttime hours.
We're told burglaries are going up the most in areas where people are using Wi-Fi security systems the most. Which is weird, because these systems are supposed to prevent break-ins, not invite them. So something's clearly not working the way it should. We need to figure out what could explain that pattern.
A feels like a strong option on first read. It makes sense that people would disable motion sensors because they get annoyed with false alarms. But this feels more like scattered individual behavior. It doesn't explain why entire neighborhoods with such systems are seeing more successful break-ins. Maybe it contributes, but it's not a clean explanation for that trend.
B adds an extra layer but kind of misses the point. Even if police take longer to respond, that would matter only if the alarm is actually triggered. The problem here seems to be that the systems aren’t helping at all, not that help arrives late.
C is the one that actually explains what's going wrong. It says several areas have internet connectivity issues that can affect real-time data. If you think about it, these systems rely on Wi-Fi to send alerts. If that transmission fails, the alarm becomes useless. So now it makes sense that neighborhoods with more of these Wi-Fi dependent systems would be more vulnerable if connectivity is unstable. The alarms look like they’re doing something, but they never actually alert anyone.
D is another one that sounds reasonable. If people don’t arm their systems when they leave during the day, that opens up a window for burglars. But again, that should be true in general, not just in the neighborhoods with the most Wi-Fi security systems. Doesn’t really explain why the areas with these specific type of security systems are doing worse than others.
E isn't doing much. Updates at night don’t explain break-ins going up overall. It’s just a distraction.
Answer: C