PrepTest 135, Section 2, Question 20
There are two ways to manage an existing(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(17 more words not shown)
- ASince different parts(21 more words not shown)
- BWhen funds for(25 more words not shown)
- CIf continuous maintenance(24 more words not shown)
- DRadical reconstruction projects(12 more words not shown)
- EFor long periods,(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The cheap option requires spending money before anything looks seriously wrong.
Think of a transportation system that still works today. Regular maintenance costs money now, while the expensive consequences of skipping it may not appear for years. It's easy to treat that future breakdown as tomorrow's problem. By the time the damage is obvious, the system needs a major rebuild.
What we’re looking for
The passage tells us adequate continuous maintenance avoids that rebuild and costs far less over the long run. Our task is to explain why it almost never happens anyway. We don't need to dispute the long-term savings. We need a reason decision makers might keep putting off the work that produces them.
Working the answers
- A
Difficulty coordinating radical reconstruction makes the neglected system's eventual repair even less attractive. That doesn't explain why people skip the maintenance that would prevent the need for that repair. It adds a problem to the option they end up facing.
- B
This describes how scarce maintenance money is divided among parts of the system according to traffic. It doesn't explain why adequate continuous maintenance is so rarely adopted in the first place. Allocating a budget and deciding whether to maintain the system adequately are different questions.
- C
This says that some inadequate maintenance can delay reconstruction longer than emergency repairs alone. That gives us a comparison between two insufficient approaches. It doesn't explain why people so rarely choose the adequate continuous maintenance that avoids reconstruction.
- D
An inability to pay for reconstruction from current revenue makes reconstruction financially difficult. On its own, that gives us more reason to favor the less expensive maintenance approach. It doesn't explain the repeated failure to adopt that approach.
- ECorrect
Neglect takes a long time to show its consequences, so routine maintenance can seem nonurgent. A functioning road or transit system doesn't force an immediate decision in the way an obvious breakdown does. That helps explain why the current expense is postponed even though postponement creates a much bigger bill later.
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