LR Drill Set 1, Question 9
Commuter: To induce commuters to take public buses(54 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(13 more words not shown)
- AA city should(12 more words not shown)
- BGiven a choice(19 more words not shown)
- CCommuters should be(15 more words not shown)
- DA measure designed(17 more words not shown)
- EA city should(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Less traffic sounds good. Spending much longer getting to work doesn't.
At first, I'd want to know whether raising parking fees would actually get people onto buses and reduce congestion. The commuter answers that question for us: the plan would relieve congestion. We should accept that and move to the objection the argument develops. The buses are slower and less reliable, so switching would seriously inconvenience most commuters.
Now we have a tradeoff.
Maybe the city thinks the reduction in traffic is worth the inconvenience. Maybe commuters think a reliable trip to work matters more. The facts describe a benefit and a cost; they don't by themselves tell us which should win.
What we’re looking for
We need a principle that helps justify the commuter's conclusion that the city should not raise the fees. I'd look for a rule giving commuters' convenience priority. A rule that merely tells the city to think about the cost won't be enough. The commuter wants the city to reject the measure.
Working the answers
- A
Considering a consequence doesn't require rejecting it. The city could study every likely effect, recognize that bus travel would be inconvenient, and decide the reduced traffic is worth it. A calls for consideration but doesn't tell us how to resolve the tradeoff in the commuter's favor.
- B
We aren't given two measures that both reduce congestion. We have one proposed measure and an objection to it. Leaving parking fees alone might be more convenient, but the argument never says doing so achieves the same congestion goal. B needs a comparison the passage hasn't supplied.
- C
Higher parking fees don't prohibit driving. Commuters could still choose the fastest, most reliable method and pay more to park. The policy changes the price of that choice, not whether it is allowed. C doesn't establish that the city should keep the fees unchanged.
- DCorrect
Under this rule, a congestion measure may be implemented only if it creates no inconvenience for commuters. This measure fails that requirement: it would move commuters toward a much slower, less reliable form of travel. D therefore supports rejecting the measure even though it would reduce congestion. It supplies the value judgment that the original facts left open.
- E
Raising a fee doesn't automatically make it excessive. A modest increase could leave the fee reasonable, so we can't apply this prohibition merely from the fact that fees will rise. The passage also doesn't establish that the garages are publicly owned. Even accepting that reducing congestion is desirable, E requires facts about the fees and facilities that we haven't been given.
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