PrepTest 130, Section 1, Question 8
Working residents of Springfield live, on average, farther(38 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(12 more words not shown)
- AThree-fourths of the(12 more words not shown)
- BThe average number(11 more words not shown)
- CRorchester has fewer(4 more words not shown)
- DBuses in Springfield(10 more words not shown)
- ESpringfield has a(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Living farther from work doesn't automatically mean wanting a bus. The difference might be one mile or a hundred miles, and a very long-distance commuter might prefer driving. So I already have a question about the expected increase in demand for public transportation.
Then the passage moves from public transportation to bus routes. Those aren't interchangeable. People might have more trains or subways available even if they have fewer bus routes.
Population could matter too. Imagine comparing New York City with a small town such as Louisville, Colorado. The smaller place could offer more transportation per resident while having fewer routes overall. We aren't initially told how the two cities' populations compare.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the exception: four choices help explain why Springfield has fewer bus routes despite the expectation of greater demand. We need the one that doesn't help. I'll keep several possibilities open, including less reliance on buses, other transportation, and a smaller population.
Working the answers
- A
A shared destination helps explain fewer routes. If three-fourths of Springfield's workforce goes to the same factory, the bus system can concentrate service along routes to that destination. It needn't spread service among as many separate workplaces. This is a useful additional explanation even though it wasn't one of our initial ideas.
- B
At first, more cars might seem to leave the expected greater demand unexplained. But the demand was an expectation drawn from commuting distance, not an independently established fact. More cars per household gives Springfield residents an alternative to taking a bus. That helps explain why longer commutes needn't translate into a need for more bus routes.
- C
Springfield has more railway lines. Those could meet transportation needs that Rorchester must meet with buses. This directly fits the distinction between public transportation as a whole and bus routes in particular.
- D
Fewer routes needn't mean less service. More frequent buses can make more trips, and longer routes can reach more places. Springfield could therefore serve substantial demand with fewer routes. The choice doesn't require each individual bus to hold more passengers.
- ECorrect
A larger population doesn't supply the smaller-population explanation we considered. It points in the other direction: with more people as well as longer commutes, having only half as many bus routes becomes harder to explain on those facts alone. Other differences could still resolve the discrepancy, but this particular difference doesn't contribute to doing so.
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