Some large European cities, such as Paris and Barcelona, have

Question

Some large European cities, such as Paris and Barcelona, have implemented bicycle sharing programs that allow people, for a small fee, to obtain a bike at any of hundreds of locations and drop it off near their destination. Currently, most large U.S. cities face congestion with cars and taxis, have few bicycle lanes, and discourage the locking of bicycles to poles and fences. Therefore, until the culture of cities becomes less hostile to bicyclists, a wide scale program will not be a viable form of alternative transportation.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the argument?

(A) Whether an sharp increase in the number of bicyclists in U.S. cities would change attitudes toward bicyclists

(B) Whether U.S. who drive cars know how to operate bicycles

(C) Whether major U.S. cities have plans to expand the availability of bicycle lanes in downtown areas

(D) Whether the number of people interested in traveling by bicycle is greater in U.S. than in Europe

(E) Whether small U.S. cities are more friendly to bicyclists than large U.S. cities

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Kavicogsci · Answer

@MartMurray can you explain why option A and not C

I didn't choose A because I thought:

- Yes, a sharp increase would change attitudes

Conclusion Until the culture changes, alternative plan is not viable - True. Since Culture would have changed, plan will be viable

- No, a sharp increase wouldn't change attitudes

Conclusion Until the culture changes, alternative plan is not viable - True. Since culture is still not changed, plan not viable

@Bunnel can you weigh in?

gradschool25 · Answer

First comment - not sure if this is correct, but I arrived to the correct answer with this method

Some large European cities, such as Paris and Barcelona, have implemented bicycle sharing programs that allow people, for a small fee, to obtain a bike at any of hundreds of locations and drop it off near their destination. Currently, most large U.S. cities face congestion with cars and taxis, have few bicycle lanes, and discourage the locking of bicycles to poles and fences. Therefore, until the culture of cities becomes less hostile to bicyclists, a wide scale program will not be a viable form of alternative transportation.

Premise: most large cities face congestion, European cities have bike promos that solves hits issue

Argument: The culture of cities needs to become less hostile to bicyclists for a wide scale program

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the argument?

(A) Whether an sharp increase in the number of bicyclists in U.S. cities would change attitudes toward bicyclists
 Assuming: we had this answer - yes this would influence change the argument

(B) Whether U.S. who drive cars know how to operate bicycles
 Assuming we had this answer: - It wouldn't support the argument  
(C) Whether major U.S. cities have plans to expand the availability of bicycle lanes in downtown areas
 Assuming we had this answer: - It wouldn't support the argument since the argument is with sentiment and not city development  
(D) Whether the number of people interested in traveling by bicycle is greater in U.S. than in Europe
 Assuming we had this answer: - It wouldn't support the argument  
(E) Whether small U.S. cities are more friendly to bicyclists than large U.S. cities
 Assuming we had this answer: - maybe due it the question address sentiment, but it still doesn't tell us much

Bunuel · Answer

GMAT Hacks OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

Answer: A

This is an "evaluate the argument" question. In a sense, we're looking for an assumption, just in a different format that in assumption questions. This argument claims that, because U.S. cities are not bicycle-friendly, U.S. cities cannot implement European-style bicycle sharing programs. Each choice has two possible outcomes ("whether" it is the case, or it is not the case), so we're looking for a choice in which one of the outcomes would have an impact on the argument. Consider each in turn:

(A) This is correct. If an increase in the number of bicyclists could change attitudes toward bicyclists, a bicycle-sharing program may well solve the problem suggested in the argument.

(B) This is not important; it doesn't matter if people (car-drivers or not) can operate bicycles if cities are too hostile to bicyclists.

(C) This is outside the scope. The problem described in the passage is not the lack of bicycle lanes, it is the culture of U.S. cities.

(D) As with (B), this is not relevant, since it doesn't address the issue of hostility to bicyclists.

(E) This comparison is outside of the scope, as we're concerned only with the viability of bicycle-sharing programs in large U.S. cities.

Suyash1331 · Answer

answer is option A because the problem statement concludes that first we need to change the culture to implement the plan. however option A says just the opposite, what if implementing the plan itself increases the bicycles and eventually leads to change of culture.

Some large European cities, such as Paris and Barcelona, have

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Some large European cities, such as Paris and Barcelona, have

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