CR questions from admissionsconsultants.com

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CR questions from admissionsconsultants.com

by salmaan » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:10 pm
Most citizens are very conscientious about observing a law when they can see the reason behind it. For instance, there has been very little need to actively enforce the recently-implemented law that increased the penalty for motorists caught leaving a gas station without paying for gas they had pumped into their vehicles. This is because citizens are very concerned about the high cost of gasoline and they know that stealing gas will only further increase the price of gasoline for everyone.

4) With which of the following statements would the author of this passage be most likely to agree?

The increased penalty alone is a significant motivation for most citizens to obey the law.
There are still too many inconsiderate citizens in the local community.
High gasoline prices can be brought down if everyone does his or her part and pays for the gasoline they use at the pumps.
Society should make an effort to teach citizens the reasons for its laws.
People would be more likely to speed on a stretch of deserted highway than to not pay for gasoline.

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4) D. Choice D is correct because it neatly summarizes the main theme of the passage. We can instantly eliminate answer choice A because the passage never states how the increased penalty affects citizens. Choice B is too extreme, and overly negative. (Such answer choices are rarely correct on the GMAT.) Besides, the overall theme of the passage is positive; the negative tone of choice B is out of keeping with it. Answer choice C is incorrect because the author stated only that adherence to the law would prevent the price of gasoline from rising further. He never said that this action would lower gas prices. E introduces a comparison never mentioned or implied in the argument.



I understand why choice D is correct, but I don't undertand why choice A can be "instantly eliminated."The passage clearly state that citizens are affected by increased gas prices. Help? Thanks!
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by ajith » Sat Jan 30, 2010 11:59 pm
salmaan wrote: I understand why choice D is correct, but I don't undertand why choice A can be "instantly eliminated."The passage clearly state that citizens are affected by increased gas prices. Help? Thanks!
The passage says people observe law when they know the reason behind it. Now increased penalty is not the reason why the rule is enforced. It is just a mechanism to enforce the law. While, in real life penalty may be the only reason why one pays, in this GMAT question Land people pay because they know stealing would eventually increase the price of gasoline for everybody

Hence, "The increased penalty alone is a significant motivation for most citizens to obey the law" is likely to be a wrong answer
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