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09 Aug 2023, 04:00
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Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
72% (02:14) correct
28%
(02:28)
wrong
based on 1855
sessions
History
Date
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In Masonville few streets currently have shade trees. The city's newly adopted goal is to have shade trees on all streets that are wide enough. The trees will cool summer temperatures in the city as well as improve its appearance. Because statistics show that three of every four trees planted in the city die before maturity, the city will plant a tree every ten feet in order to achieve an eventual spacing of 30 to 50 feet between trees.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the city's plan depends?
A. The trees that will be planted as shade trees are hardier and have a greater chance of surviving to maturity than do the trees that have typically been planted in the city in the past.
B. The streets that currently have shade trees are no wider than the streets for which shade-tree plantings are planned.
C. Trees planted in the region of Masonville but outside the city would have a lower mortality rate than trees planted along city streets.
D. The growing conditions do not vary so much from district to district within the city that the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted.
E. Apart from the issue of whether shade trees can be grown, the width of a city street does not contribute to the temperature there on hot summer days.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the city's plan depends?
A. The trees that will be planted as shade trees are hardier and have a greater chance of surviving to maturity than do the trees that have typically been planted in the city in the past.
B. The streets that currently have shade trees are no wider than the streets for which shade-tree plantings are planned.
C. Trees planted in the region of Masonville but outside the city would have a lower mortality rate than trees planted along city streets.
D. The growing conditions do not vary so much from district to district within the city that the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted.
E. Apart from the issue of whether shade trees can be grown, the width of a city street does not contribute to the temperature there on hot summer days.
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15 Aug 2023, 17:56
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In Masonville few streets currently have shade trees. The city's newly adopted goal is to have shade trees on all streets that are wide enough. The trees will cool summer temperatures in the city as well as improve its appearance. Because statistics show that three of every four trees planted in the city die before maturity, the city will plant a tree every ten feet in order to achieve an eventual spacing of 30 to 50 feet between trees.
Often, in a plan question, the passage does not directly state a conclusion and there is instead an implied conclusion that is basically that implementing the plan will lead to a particular outcome. In this case, the implied conclusion is the following:
By planting a tree every ten feet, the city will achieve an eventual spacing of 30 to 50 feet between trees.
The support for that conclusion is the following:
statistics show that three of every four trees planted in the city die before maturity
We also have some other information about the city's goal that may turn out to be important:
The city's newly adopted goal is to have shade trees on all streets that are wide enough. The trees will cool summer temperatures in the city as well as improve its appearance.
The correct answer will state an assumption on which the city's plan depends.
A. The trees that will be planted as shade trees are hardier and have a greater chance of surviving to maturity than do the trees that have typically been planted in the city in the past.
This choice casts doubt on the conclusion of the argument. After all, the premise that supports for the conclusion is that, historically, three of every four trees planted in the city have died before maturity. For that premise to support the conclusion, what has occurred historically must also occur when the new trees are planted.
So, since this choice indicates that something different may occur - more trees may survive to maturity - this choice indicates that the plan may not work.
A choice that casts doubt on the success of the plan cannot be an assumption on which the plan depends.
Eliminate.
B. The streets that currently have shade trees are no wider than the streets for which shade-tree plantings are planned.
This choice has no effect on the case for the plan. After all, the plan has already taken the widths of the streets into account because the plan is to plant shade trees "on all streets that are wide enough."
So, even if the streets that currently have shade trees ARE wider than the streets for which shade-tree plantings are planned, the plan will still work.
Eliminate.
C. Trees planted in the region of Masonville but outside the city would have a lower mortality rate than trees planted along city streets.
This choice tempts us to choose it by saying something that seems likely to be true in reality: trees planted outside of a city would have a lower mortality rate than trees planted along city streets.
At the same time, what the correct answer to this question must do is not be something true in reality. It must be an assumption upon which the plan depends, and what the mortality rate of trees outside the city would be has no bearing on the success of a plan that involves planting trees in the city.
Eliminate.
D. The growing conditions do not vary so much from district to district within the city that the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted.
Let's try negating this choice. In other words, let's consider what would occur if the growing conditions DO vary so much from district to district within the city that the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted.
In that case, the premise no longer supports the conclusion that the plan will work
After all, if "the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted," then the city won't "achieve an eventual spacing of 30 to 50 feet between trees" by planting trees every ten feet. Rather, in some districts, more trees will die, and the spacing will be wider, and in some districts fewer trees will die, and the spacing will be narrower.
So, if this choice is NOT true, then the plan won't work. Thus, this choice states an assumption upon which the plan depends.
Keep
E. Apart from the issue of whether shade trees can be grown, the width of a city street does not contribute to the temperature there on hot summer days.
The plan is to plant shade trees in part because "the trees will cool summer temperatures in the city." Notice that the plan does not have a goal of achieving certain specific cooler temperatures.
So, even if this choice is not true and "the width of a city street DOES contribute to the temperature there on hot summer days," the plan could still work fine because, even in that case, the trees could still help to keep the temperatures lower than they otherwise would be.
Eliminate.
The correct answer is (D).
Often, in a plan question, the passage does not directly state a conclusion and there is instead an implied conclusion that is basically that implementing the plan will lead to a particular outcome. In this case, the implied conclusion is the following:
By planting a tree every ten feet, the city will achieve an eventual spacing of 30 to 50 feet between trees.
The support for that conclusion is the following:
statistics show that three of every four trees planted in the city die before maturity
We also have some other information about the city's goal that may turn out to be important:
The city's newly adopted goal is to have shade trees on all streets that are wide enough. The trees will cool summer temperatures in the city as well as improve its appearance.
The correct answer will state an assumption on which the city's plan depends.
A. The trees that will be planted as shade trees are hardier and have a greater chance of surviving to maturity than do the trees that have typically been planted in the city in the past.
This choice casts doubt on the conclusion of the argument. After all, the premise that supports for the conclusion is that, historically, three of every four trees planted in the city have died before maturity. For that premise to support the conclusion, what has occurred historically must also occur when the new trees are planted.
So, since this choice indicates that something different may occur - more trees may survive to maturity - this choice indicates that the plan may not work.
A choice that casts doubt on the success of the plan cannot be an assumption on which the plan depends.
Eliminate.
B. The streets that currently have shade trees are no wider than the streets for which shade-tree plantings are planned.
This choice has no effect on the case for the plan. After all, the plan has already taken the widths of the streets into account because the plan is to plant shade trees "on all streets that are wide enough."
So, even if the streets that currently have shade trees ARE wider than the streets for which shade-tree plantings are planned, the plan will still work.
Eliminate.
C. Trees planted in the region of Masonville but outside the city would have a lower mortality rate than trees planted along city streets.
This choice tempts us to choose it by saying something that seems likely to be true in reality: trees planted outside of a city would have a lower mortality rate than trees planted along city streets.
At the same time, what the correct answer to this question must do is not be something true in reality. It must be an assumption upon which the plan depends, and what the mortality rate of trees outside the city would be has no bearing on the success of a plan that involves planting trees in the city.
Eliminate.
D. The growing conditions do not vary so much from district to district within the city that the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted.
Let's try negating this choice. In other words, let's consider what would occur if the growing conditions DO vary so much from district to district within the city that the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted.
In that case, the premise no longer supports the conclusion that the plan will work
After all, if "the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted," then the city won't "achieve an eventual spacing of 30 to 50 feet between trees" by planting trees every ten feet. Rather, in some districts, more trees will die, and the spacing will be wider, and in some districts fewer trees will die, and the spacing will be narrower.
So, if this choice is NOT true, then the plan won't work. Thus, this choice states an assumption upon which the plan depends.
Keep
E. Apart from the issue of whether shade trees can be grown, the width of a city street does not contribute to the temperature there on hot summer days.
The plan is to plant shade trees in part because "the trees will cool summer temperatures in the city." Notice that the plan does not have a goal of achieving certain specific cooler temperatures.
So, even if this choice is not true and "the width of a city street DOES contribute to the temperature there on hot summer days," the plan could still work fine because, even in that case, the trees could still help to keep the temperatures lower than they otherwise would be.
Eliminate.
The correct answer is (D).
General Discussion
09 Aug 2023, 23:06
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Bunuel
This is a plan goal type of question.
Goal: To have shade trees on all streets that are wide enough
Plan: Plant a tree every ten feet in order to achieve an eventual spacing of 30 to 50 feet between trees
Additional Details: We are also given some statistical information that three of every four trees planted in the city die before maturity. The plan that was made is assumed to have taken this consideration into account.
A. The trees that will be planted as shade trees are hardier and have a greater chance of surviving to maturity than do the trees that have typically been planted in the city in the past.
We don't need to assume this because the plan was made to take into consideration the current survival rate and the current type of trees. Hence, even if the plants have the same trees that will be planted as shade trees have the same survival rate and are of similar type we can arrive at the conclusion. Hence, we can eliminate this option.
B. The streets that currently have shade trees are no wider than the streets for which shade-tree plantings are planned.
Well, this information isn't a must-have / must-be true (in other words an assumption) for our conclusion to hold true. We are not given information on what parameters were taken into consideration to formulate the plan. The city officials probably have taken into consideration any differences between the streets in coming up with the plan. Hence, while the difference in width 'may' affect the type of plant that needs to be planted, that information could have been taken into account. Hence, we can eliminate this statement.
C. Trees planted in the region of Masonville but outside the city would have a lower mortality rate than trees planted along city streets.
This statement is out of scope. We have to find an assumption in light of the conclusion and the plan made in this question. We can eliminate this option.
D. The growing conditions do not vary so much from district to district within the city that the mortality rate of trees differs greatly according to the district in which they are planted.
A good one!
This is an assumption that the city makes. The city in its plan has laid out a decision to have a uniform planting strategy for all the streets. Hence, the city assumes that the planting and survival conditions do not differ greatly. If the survival conditions do differ, the city might need to adopt different strategies to ensure that the plants survive.
We can keep this option.
E. Apart from the issue of whether shade trees can be grown, the width of a city street does not contribute to the temperature there on hot summer days.
Not relevant to the conclusion. While there might be other factors at play, the argument at hand is regarding the city's plan to have shade trees on all streets that are wide enough. Hence, we can eliminate E.
This leaves us with D.
Option D
