a good paradox question...

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a good paradox question...

by [email protected] » Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:42 pm
Life in an urban center, with daily experiences of subways, crowded sidewalks and dense living, provides countless opportunities for social contact and connection. Exurban life, by contrast, exists in the openness of freeways and one-acre lots, exhibiting little that would suggest social commonality. Yet studies show that people who live in exurbia consistently rate their feeling of connectedness to their community as strong whereas urban dwellers more frequently express feelings of isolation.

Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the difference in the reported feelings of connectedness between urban and exurban dwellers?

A] The cost of living in exurbia is significantly lower than that in urban areas.

B] Rates of attendance at houses of worship are much higher in exurban areas than in urban ones.

C] Exurban school districts often spend more per capita on their students than do those in urban areas.

D] The rate of violent crime is much lower in exurban areas than in urban ones.

E] Many people who live in exurbia moved there from urban areas.




[spoiler]
The OA is B.[/spoiler]


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by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:22 am
Answer b is correct because attending houses of worship gives the people from exurbia the sense of togetherness, whereas the people living in the urban center meet a lot of strangers in everyday life but do not experience the feeling of connectedness to their community.

Other answer choices are irrelevant.
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by jimmyjimmy » Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:08 am
[email protected] wrote:Life in an urban center, with daily experiences of subways, crowded sidewalks and dense living, provides countless opportunities for social contact and connection. Exurban life, by contrast, exists in the openness of freeways and one-acre lots, exhibiting little that would suggest social commonality. Yet studies show that people who live in exurbia consistently rate their feeling of connectedness to their community as strong whereas urban dwellers more frequently express feelings of isolation.

Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the difference in the reported feelings of connectedness between urban and exurban dwellers?

A] The cost of living in exurbia is significantly lower than that in urban areas.

B] Rates of attendance at houses of worship are much higher in exurban areas than in urban ones.

C] Exurban school districts often spend more per capita on their students than do those in urban areas.

D] The rate of violent crime is much lower in exurban areas than in urban ones.

E] Many people who live in exurbia moved there from urban areas.




[spoiler]
The OA is B.[/spoiler]


Every word in the stimulus is important. That is where the clue lies.

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nice one, got it wrong with E, but understood with oa..

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:26 am
Good one!

A) Cost of living is not mentioned at all.

B) Religious participation could provide a means of connecting with the community, so this could help explain that gap in connectedness.

C) School spending is not mentioned at all.

D) We have no way of knowing how this would affect feelings of connectedness.

E) Tempting, but we can't make the assumption that they moved to exurban areas because of connectedness. There could be many factors.
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by vinaym89 » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:07 am
Hi

In option B, why do we assume that just because attendance was higher at places of worship that there is connectedness amongst people.

What if people are religious but do not care about or socialize with other members?

I agree that when compared to option E, it does sound better....but I am just trying to fully understand why option B is incorrect.

Thanks Guys.

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by Gaurav 2013-fall » Mon Jun 25, 2012 6:55 am
good question!

I missed 'social commonality' in the arg. Damn it!
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:13 am
vinaym89 wrote:Hi

In option B, why do we assume that just because attendance was higher at places of worship that there is connectedness amongst people.

What if people are religious but do not care about or socialize with other members?

I agree that when compared to option E, it does sound better....but I am just trying to fully understand why option B is incorrect.

Thanks Guys.
With "explain" questions, we are looking for a potential reason that the situation makes sense. It is not necessarily the actual reason; there could be many other factors involved.

With B, it provides one possible mechanism for the exurban/urban feelings of connectedness. Can we guarantee that it is the main reason? No, but it is the only one of the answers that could possibly explain the situation.
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by [email protected] » Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:23 am
Guys!
Why "E" is wrong?
Ans: "E" do tells us that the exurbania have good connection due to people fleeing from urban places but the option doesn't comment on "why less connection is present in URBAN state!!!!". It's HALF answer/ half cooked answer choice!!!

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