PrepTest 139, Section 2, Question 4
Over the past 50 years, expansive, low-density communities(429 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(28 more words not shown)
- AThey are intended(21 more words not shown)
- BThe former is(32 more words not shown)
- CIn the former,(38 more words not shown)
- DThe former is(37 more words not shown)
- EIn the former,(32 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The same word can do different jobs. At the beginning, “communities” names the residential developments spreading around cities. At the end of that first paragraph, “community” is what shared gathering places are supposed to help people feel.
What we’re looking for
A suburb can exist as a collection of homes while lacking a strong sense of connection among its residents. That's the distinction the planners' criticism depends on.
Working the answers
- A
The difference isn't merely singular versus plural. If the meanings were identical, the complaint about residential communities lacking community would miss the point.
- BCorrect
The opening use concerns clustered dwellings and the people living in them. The later use concerns belonging. That explains how the planners can acknowledge the physical developments while criticizing the social experience within them.
- C
The opening doesn't define groups by common interests. It identifies places where people live, so the first half doesn't fit.
- D
Professional or political ties aren't what makes the opening developments “communities.” And the later use is about social connection, not merely geographic closeness. Living nearby doesn't by itself supply the belonging the planners want.
- E
Neither use is defined by shared background or lifestyle in the way this answer proposes. More basically, the opening reference to developments isn't a reference to informal personal ties.
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