PrepTest 137, Section 3, Question 1
A research study revealed that, in most cases,(29 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(23 more words not shown)
- AWidened and extended(13 more words not shown)
- BTypically, road widening(26 more words not shown)
- CAs a general(25 more words not shown)
- DRural, as compared(15 more words not shown)
- EUrban traffic generally(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
More lanes, but worse traffic? Adding room for cars sounds like it should reduce the congestion. We need to explain why the problems grow instead.
Maybe the road is being expanded because the population is already growing quickly. If the number of drivers keeps growing faster than the highway's capacity, a larger highway could still be more crowded. The expansion might help without keeping up with all the extra traffic.
What we’re looking for
That's my initial guess for this explanation question: something is adding enough traffic to overwhelm the added space. We should accept both facts—the highway got bigger and the delays got worse—and look for a reason they could occur together.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This gives us another source of extra traffic. The improved road attracts many more drivers than used it before. People might change their routes because the expanded highway looks more convenient. If enough additional drivers choose it, the added traffic can overwhelm the added capacity.
My first guess was continued population growth. A instead connects the extra drivers to the improvement itself. Either way, the key is that we haven't held the amount of traffic constant while making more room for it.
- B
This initially sounds like the population explanation, but read through to ‘leveled off.’ The population increase happens before the expansion, and then growth stops. That can explain why the old road needed more capacity. It doesn't explain why traffic becomes worse after that capacity is added. For my initial prediction, we'd want the population to keep growing and outpace the improvements.
- C
A lower accident rate doesn't explain the increase in congestion and delays. If anything, fewer accidents might give traffic fewer interruptions. The answer doesn't tell us what brings enough additional traffic or delay to offset the bigger highway.
- D
We're examining what happens to highways near urban areas after an improvement. The types of vehicles more common in rural traffic don't explain that change. Knowing that one place has more farm vehicles gives us no reason this expanded urban highway becomes more congested.
- E
This compares urban traffic with rural and suburban traffic. Our comparison is the same highway before and after improvement. Urban roads could be busier than rural roads both before and after, while expansion still reduced their congestion. E leaves the surprising change unexplained.
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