Most citizens are very conscientious about observing a law when they

Question

Most citizens are very conscientious about observing a law when they can see the reason behind it. For instance, there has been very little need to actively enforce the recently-implemented law that increased the penalty for motorists caught leaving a gas station without paying for gas they had pumped into their vehicles. This is because citizens are very concerned about the high cost of gasoline and they know that stealing gas will only further increase the price of gasoline for everyone.

With which of the following statements would the author of this passage be most likely to agree?

A. The increased penalty alone is a significant motivation for most citizens to obey the law.

B. There are still too many inconsiderate citizens in the local community.

C. High gasoline prices can be brought down if everyone does his or her part and pays for the gasoline they use at the pumps.

D. Society should make an effort to teach citizens the reasons for its laws.

E. People would be more likely to speed on a stretch of deserted highway than to not pay for gasoline.

Source: https://www.admissionconsultants.com

OE:

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Choice D is correct because it neatly summarizes the main theme of the passage. We can instantly eliminate answer choice A because the passage never states how the increased penalty affects citizens. Choice B is too extreme, and overly negative. (Such answer choices are rarely correct on the GMAT.) Besides, the overall theme of the passage is positive; the negative tone of choice B is out of keeping with it. Answer choice C is incorrect because the author stated only that adherence to the law would prevent the price of gasoline from rising further. He never said that this action would lower gas prices. E introduces a comparison never mentioned or implied in the argument.

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Official Answer

D

Dreamy · Answer

D should be the answer.

Conclusion: people are conscientious about the laws if they know the reason behind it
one example evidence is provided

imania · Answer

Educational example
various wrong answers, ranging from extreme ones to irrelevant ones

arundas · Answer

Stumped opted for C assuming that it was the least unsuitable answer. I am somehow surprised that people opted for D straight away. There is no mention of Society in the question stem

prab · Answer

i think the answer should be C, as we can see in the paragraph the author talks about price increasing directly proportional to people not paying. what the OA?

kidchaos · Answer

OA and OE have been put up with the question

Eshika · Answer

I answered A bt understoof whyanswer is D..Thanks

Naina1 · Answer

I dont understand why its not C. Author is talking about gasoline prices in relation to people paying or not paying.
Can someone please explain?

Konstantin1983 · Answer

Hi Naina1!
C is not correct since the author only says that if you don't pay for the gas price will go up. From this we can't infer that price will go down if you pay for the gas. This is popular GMAT trap

VerbalBot · Answer

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Most citizens are very conscientious about observing a law when they

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Most citizens are very conscientious about observing a law when they

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