Critical Reasoning

The track and field team at Ochs College has just announced a change in its policy regarding practice hours. Prior to this change, team members were required to arrive at practice no later than 5:00 p.m. and practice continued until 8:00 p.m. Under the new policy, practice will be more informally organized, and team members will be able to choose to arrive any time between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and make up lost time on a different day.

This adoption of this policy would most likely prove disadvantageous to team members ____________


(A) who rely on local buses or other forms of public transportation to get to practice on time.

(B) who often arrive at practice prior to 5:00 p.m. to help begin setting up the more complicated equipment.

(C) who were seldom late for practice under the previous policy requiring punctual arrival.

(D) who participate in events, such as the pole vault, which require extensive equipment that is often not set up until 5:30 p.m.

(E) who participate in events, such as the relay, which require working with a small group throughout the duration of practice.

I think the answer is 'E' because some of the members of the small group(especially the ones who come @4p.m.)may have to wait even till 6p.m. for others, while they could just start @5p.m. under the prev. policy.
Any suggestions would be appreciated

Cheers!

+1 for E.

OA is indeed E

Nice one! I think that I had seen one like this before, when a company unrestricted working hours and everyone could arrive at his best convenience. The answer involved also that those who work with others might be affected since everyone had a different schedule.
Thanks.

IMO E . Crafted just like an OG question of flexi work timings .

This question asks us to infer the possible effects of a track and field team's new policy by determining which group of team members are most likely to be affected negatively. Since the new plan essentially makes it easier for team members to arrive up to an hour late (or early), the answer should identify a group that, for whatever reason, needs other members to be at practice at the same time.

Choice E is correct. Under the new policy, team members who participate in group events may well find themselves in a situation in which different members of the group arrive at different times, preventing the entire group from practicing as needed.

Choice A refers to team members who rely on public transportation. While it is possible that simply moving the start time in either direction might harm those who rely on public transportation if that transportation is available only at specific, limited times, making the start time more flexible can only help team members who take public transportation, regardless of the transportation schedule.

Choice B, like choice A, makes it important to distinguish the fact that the team is making the practice's start time more flexible, not just moving it. The fact that some team members may not be arriving until later should not affect the team members who arrive early to set up equipment in any way. In fact, those who arrive early should now be able to leave early and no longer have to put in extra hours.

Choice C encourages us to over-think the question. We may, perhaps, imagine that team members who were always punctual might resent a new policy that makes punctuality less important and lets their less punctual peers "off the hook," so to speak. However, this does not constitute the policy being disadvantageous to them, so this choice cannot be validly inferred from the argument.

Choice D, like choice A, is nearly the opposite of a correct answer. Team members who, under the previous policy, were forced to arrive at 5:00 p.m. and then wait an additional half hour or more until their equipment was prepared should be affected positively by this new policy, which will allow them to arrive at a time that makes sense for them.

Choice E is correct.

atulmangal wrote:The track and field team at Ochs College has just announced a change in its policy regarding practice hours. Prior to this change, team members were required to arrive at practice no later than 5:00 p.m. and practice continued until 8:00 p.m. Under the new policy, practice will be more informally organized, and team members will be able to choose to arrive any time between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and make up lost time on a different day.

This adoption of this policy would most likely prove disadvantageous to team members ____________


(A) who rely on local buses or other forms of public transportation to get to practice on time.

(B) who often arrive at practice prior to 5:00 p.m. to help begin setting up the more complicated equipment.

(C) who were seldom late for practice under the previous policy requiring punctual arrival.

(D) who participate in events, such as the pole vault, which require extensive equipment that is often not set up until 5:30 p.m.

(E) who participate in events, such as the relay, which require working with a small group throughout the duration of practice.