In the wake of a series of fraud convictions and

Question

In the wake of a series of fraud convictions and mismanagement scandals involving members of a five-person city council, a commentator for a local newspaper has suggested that the council create a sixth elected position. The person elected to the new position would be responsible for the daily operation of the city government, leaving the other council members time to talk with their constituents and to write legislation.
Which of the following, if true, points to the biggest flaw in the plan to curb corruption by adding a sixth elected position to the city council?

A. The council manager, though a voting member of the council, would not be allowed to introduce new legislation.
B. The council manager would have no control over other board members’ decisions about funds disbursement.
C. Each council member represents over 15,000 constituents and would not have time to talk with all of them.
D. The council manager is required to have a background in either accounting or business administration.
E. The city council must cooperate with the county government, which is also made up of elected officials.

Zarrolou · Accepted Answer

We can rewrite the passage as:

The five persons were involved in a series of scandals(fraud convictions and mismanagement); a sixth person (responsible for the daily operation) would curb corruption.

We have to look for an answer that shows us, for example, that the 6th member will not be able to control the others, or will not have power on the others, or something similar.

A. The council manager, though a voting member of the council, would not be allowed to introduce new legislation.
Does the scandals invole "new legislations"? No, so this limit of the 6th person's powers will not affect his effectiveness.
B. The council manager would have no control over other board members’ decisions about funds disbursement.
  IMO CORRECT:   These frauds will not be limited by the 6th person, so his effectiveness is limited.
C. Each council member represents over 15,000 constituents and would not have time to talk with all of them.
This is not a good point to say that he cannot curb the corruption.(refer at the top)
D. The council manager is required to have a background in either accounting or business administration.
This is not a good point to say that he cannot curb the corruption.
E. The city council must cooperate with the county government, which is also made up of elected officials.
This is out of scope.

Waiting for the OA

vishnuns39620 · Answer

I ruled out C,D,& E based on the same reasons mentioned above.

Between A & B - A can be ruled out because it is not mentioned that legislations are the reason, as noted above! But I missed that & chose A. On reviewing, I agree that B makes most sense.

But my question here is whether we can make the assumptions that legislation involves funds disbursement.....I guess it could?

Zarrolou · Answer

Well, A says that he will be a voting member, so he can somehow limit those legislations. But the passage new legislations=>funds disbursement=> fraud, requires an assumption (as you correctly say, but it may occur or not). On the other hand the logic funds disbursement => fraud is more straightforward, and requires no assumption. Hope this makes sense

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

Objective: weaken the conclusion 
 Conclusion: curb corruption by adding a sixth elected position to the city council
 
 A. The council manager, though a voting member of the council, would not be allowed to introduce new legislation.  -  not related to corruption. 
 B. The council manager would have no control over other board members’ decisions about funds disbursement. - If the newly elected official has no control over other board members' decisions about funds disbursement, then it is likely that the mismanagement of funds would continue. Therefore, (B) weakens the conclusion cited. Hence,  (B) is the right answer choice.   
 C. Each council member represents over 15,000 constituents and would not have time to talk with all of them.  -  irrelevant to the conclusion.  
 D. The council manager is required to have a background in either accounting or business administration.  -  irrelevant to the conclusion 
 E. The city council must cooperate with the county government, which is also made up of elected officials.  -  irrelevant to the conclusion

VerbalBot · Answer

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In the wake of a series of fraud convictions and

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