- PowerScore Staff
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- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:00 am
#36297
Complete Question Explanation
Strengthen. The correct answer choice is (E)
The argument concludes that rapid population growth can be disastrous for a small city, and supports
that claim by pointing out that quick population growth overloads the city services responsible for
utilities and permits, and most city budgets do not allow for the immediate hiring of new staff.
The reasoning in this argument contains a critical fl aw: it fails to consider that new people bring new
money. Since new people bring new money, it is possible that a small city experiencing rapid growth
would be able to hire the necessary employees, regardless of what the city had budgeted. Since you
are asked to strengthen the argument, you should try to address this issue.
Answer choice (A): This choice merely explains which services the city would consider to be
priorities, but does not speak to whether a city would actually be overloaded by growth and thereby
encounter disaster. If anything, this choice might weaken the argument because it suggests that a city
might avoid disaster initially by focusing on essential services.
Answer choice (B): From a topical standpoint, the stimulus is not really concerned about ideas, and
so this choice is unlikely to be correct.
If you accept that new ideas can have an immediate material affect on the city’s fi nances (which
is possible, but unlikely given the typical pace of municipal governance), then this answer is still
incorrect. If new residents bring new ideas, they might actually come up with ways for the city
to more effectively use its limited resources, so this response might weaken the argument. On the
other hand, new ideas could create a more complicated situation and more problems, which would
slightly strengthen the argument. Either way, “new ideas” can have so many effects—both positive
and negative—that it is unclear what effect this choice would have on the argument, so this choice is
wrong.
Answer choice (C): Since the stimulus concerns the diffi culties of small cities, this response, which
compares small cities to large cities, is irrelevant.
Concluding that this choice strengthens the argument is similar to making a Mistaken Negation. This
choice says that if a city is large, it has an easier time than a small city absorbing rapid population
growth, but the stimulus says that if a city is small, it has a more diffi cult time absorbing rapid
population growth.
Answer choice (D): The consideration of unemployment rates neither assists nor harms the
argument. A low unemployment rate could mean that wages are higher, and it is more expensive to
increase city staff. On the other hand, if people move to a city because of its low unemployment rate,
maybe they are unskilled people in need of work, and it might be easy to inexpensively increase city
staff. The exact impact of unemployment rates is uncertain, so this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. If most new residents do not begin paying
taxes for at least a year, then the city will bear the costs of providing services to those new residents
but there will be no corresponding increase in funds from those residents for a year. This choice
directly addresses the argument’s disregard of the fact that new people bring new money by stating
that, most of the time, there is a signifi cant period in which there are new people, but no new city tax
money.
Strengthen. The correct answer choice is (E)
The argument concludes that rapid population growth can be disastrous for a small city, and supports
that claim by pointing out that quick population growth overloads the city services responsible for
utilities and permits, and most city budgets do not allow for the immediate hiring of new staff.
The reasoning in this argument contains a critical fl aw: it fails to consider that new people bring new
money. Since new people bring new money, it is possible that a small city experiencing rapid growth
would be able to hire the necessary employees, regardless of what the city had budgeted. Since you
are asked to strengthen the argument, you should try to address this issue.
Answer choice (A): This choice merely explains which services the city would consider to be
priorities, but does not speak to whether a city would actually be overloaded by growth and thereby
encounter disaster. If anything, this choice might weaken the argument because it suggests that a city
might avoid disaster initially by focusing on essential services.
Answer choice (B): From a topical standpoint, the stimulus is not really concerned about ideas, and
so this choice is unlikely to be correct.
If you accept that new ideas can have an immediate material affect on the city’s fi nances (which
is possible, but unlikely given the typical pace of municipal governance), then this answer is still
incorrect. If new residents bring new ideas, they might actually come up with ways for the city
to more effectively use its limited resources, so this response might weaken the argument. On the
other hand, new ideas could create a more complicated situation and more problems, which would
slightly strengthen the argument. Either way, “new ideas” can have so many effects—both positive
and negative—that it is unclear what effect this choice would have on the argument, so this choice is
wrong.
Answer choice (C): Since the stimulus concerns the diffi culties of small cities, this response, which
compares small cities to large cities, is irrelevant.
Concluding that this choice strengthens the argument is similar to making a Mistaken Negation. This
choice says that if a city is large, it has an easier time than a small city absorbing rapid population
growth, but the stimulus says that if a city is small, it has a more diffi cult time absorbing rapid
population growth.
Answer choice (D): The consideration of unemployment rates neither assists nor harms the
argument. A low unemployment rate could mean that wages are higher, and it is more expensive to
increase city staff. On the other hand, if people move to a city because of its low unemployment rate,
maybe they are unskilled people in need of work, and it might be easy to inexpensively increase city
staff. The exact impact of unemployment rates is uncertain, so this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. If most new residents do not begin paying
taxes for at least a year, then the city will bear the costs of providing services to those new residents
but there will be no corresponding increase in funds from those residents for a year. This choice
directly addresses the argument’s disregard of the fact that new people bring new money by stating
that, most of the time, there is a signifi cant period in which there are new people, but no new city tax
money.
