Argument: (1) A city has an extensive subway system
(2) This city replaced the old map with a new one.
(3) Unlike the old map, this new map does not show the distance between stops
(4) BUT, the passengers like the new map. They say it helps them have a better understanding of the time of communite
Question: Resolve the Paradox
Paradox situation:(1) Old map provides information on the distance between two stops and the new map does not.
(2)
Despite this lack of information, the passengers prefer the new map, saying it helps them analyse the time it takes to reach their destination
(A) The new map is more compact, making it much easier for
subway riders to carry and to use.
Incorrect - We need to prove that the new map, despite lacking the
information on distance between two stops is yet very helpful in determining the
the time it takes to reach the destination. Showing that the benefit of the new map is that it can easily be carried DOES NOT help us prove the point in
Italic(B)
Improvements in the subway system have
cut the average duration of a regular subway rider’s trip
by twenty percent. Incorrect - Great! now people take less time (than before) to reach their stop. There is no correlation between the new map and the improvements.
(C) The new map, unlike the old map, lists
the times that each subway line is in operation on each day of the week. Okay, so now we have some information about
the new map and
number of time each line is operational. But hold on, the number of times that each line is operational is not going to help the passengers calculate the time taken to reach their stop.
Note - Had this option stated
some sort of correlation between t
he times that each line is operational and the
time taken to commute, we could have made some use of this choice.
(D) On the new map,
circles representing stops have numbers indicating the average number of minutes to the next stop.
Correct. So the new map has circles. Each circle is has some numbers mentioned on it. These numbers indicate the
average time that the passenger will take to reach his/her destination. Great, now we know why despite the lack of "distance information" the new map is preferred. Because it indicates the time of travel
(E)
The old map showed several stops that were actually out of operation for more than a year.
Incorrect - So option (E) is pointing out a flaw in the old map. BUT, just because the old map had flaws, that does not help us prove that the new map was efficient.
Note - If we have A and B, and we need to prove that people prefer B over A then we need to prove that B is better than A and not simply state that A has some flaws. By stating the flaws in A will make the reader believe that he/she must avoid A. But it doesn't prove that the reader must chose B.
Correct choice:
(D)