PrepTest 115, Section 4, Question 24
A park's user fees are employed to maintain(44 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(11 more words not shown)
- ATo increase its(37 more words not shown)
- BA grocery store's(35 more words not shown)
- CRoad taxes are(41 more words not shown)
- DBy spending more(30 more words not shown)
- ELibrary fees have(43 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Fewer visitors can mean fewer repairs. If raising the park's entry fee discourages visits, the park may receive less money overall but also have less damage to deal with. That explains why lower revenue needn't automatically mean worse maintenance.
Still, I'd ask how the two changes compare. What if revenue falls so much that the park can't cover even its basic upkeep? Reduced use doesn't guarantee that every maintenance expense falls enough to compensate. The conclusion assumes the savings in needed maintenance are sufficient for the favorable outcome.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for a situation following the same principle, rather than to attack that assumption. I'd look for a higher fee reducing use, with the reduced use helping the condition of something even though less money is available to maintain it. The useful relationship is between the maintenance resources and the maintenance needed. Merely raising a fee, or merely getting a good outcome, won't reproduce the whole situation.
Working the answers
- A
The company improves its warranty, attracts a larger market share, and ends up with lower profits because of the expense. Our park reduces use and claims an improvement in maintenance despite lower maintenance revenue. A gives us more customers and an added cost, not reduced wear offsetting fewer maintenance resources.
- B
Closing for part of the day allows better cleaning, which could make the store more pleasant and increase revenue. There is a benefit from reduced operating time, but the money goes up rather than down. The answer doesn't describe fewer users reducing the maintenance burden enough to keep the facility in better condition despite less money.
- C
The higher road tax encourages greater use of a different service: mass transit. That service then has more revenue but deteriorates because payments don't cover its costs. The original claims better maintenance despite less revenue as use declines. C changes both the direction of use and the relationship between money and the final condition.
- D
More spending improves the zoo and draws more visitors. Additional sales then cover the extra expense. That is a story about increased revenue paying for increased maintenance, not reduced use making it possible to improve conditions with less maintenance money.
- ECorrect
The library's increased fees correspond to the park's increased user fees. Fewer library patrons correspond to fewer park visitors, and fewer people using the books mean less wear, just as fewer visitors mean less wear on the park.
The financial detail also matches: enough people stop using the service that maintenance revenue falls despite the higher fee per user. Yet the books are in better repair. That reproduces the favorable condition despite reduced funding, explained by reduced use. We don't need to establish that this would always be a wise library policy; we need the same relationships as the park's reasoning.
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