PrepTest 149, Section 3, Question 19
Business owner: Around noon in one section of(73 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(11 more words not shown)
- AUnless a business(23 more words not shown)
- BIf a serious(24 more words not shown)
- CNo proposed solution(14 more words not shown)
- DA law that(27 more words not shown)
- EIf a city(25 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Congestion still matters in the place where it happens.
Saying other neighborhoods have plenty of parking doesn't make the lunchtime problem disappear. But look at the proposed response: food trucks would lose access to metered spaces in every commercially zoned area. The business owner is rejecting that broad restriction, not claiming the crowded neighborhood has no problem.
What we’re looking for
Now we need a principle that helps the owner. I'd look for a rule against imposing a citywide restriction to address a problem confined to a small part of the city. That would turn the fact about most neighborhoods into a reason to reject this particular bill, while leaving room to address the congestion where it actually occurs.
Working the answers
- A
This says providing something consumers value is required for a business to use scarce city resources. It doesn't say that every business providing a valued product must be allowed to use those resources. Even if customers value the food, A could still permit restrictions for traffic reasons. It doesn't establish why this bill should be rejected.
- B
This gives the city a reason to act on a local problem before it spreads. That doesn't support the owner's rejection of the bill. It also doesn't specifically establish that this ban is the right response; it calls for addressing the problem without selecting a particular solution.
- C
Do we know the problem hasn't been thoroughly studied? No. If it has, this principle poses no obstacle to the bill. The owner's argument relies on where congestion occurs, not on evidence of an inadequate study.
- DCorrect
The bill would disadvantage one type of business—food trucks—across the city by denying access to commercial-area metered parking. The congestion problem doesn't affect most areas. D says that this kind of broad disadvantage shouldn't be used to solve that kind of localized problem, supplying the rule the owner needs to reject the bill.
- E
Nothing says the ban would aggravate the congestion. The objection is that its reach is too broad for the location of the problem, not that it would make that problem worse. E needs a fact about worsening conditions that the argument doesn't provide.
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