80 mins round trip

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80 mins round trip

by himu » Mon Nov 19, 2012 10:36 pm
For the last five years, the XYZ Courier Company has made regular delivery trips between Town A and Town B. The average time taken by the company's drivers to drive the round trip between the two towns, excluding the time taken for loading, unloading, and delivery, over that period has been 80 minutes. John, a driver for XYZ, needs to make a personal trip between the two towns; he figures that he should allow approximately 80 minutes for the round trip.

Which of the following, if true, does not call John's conclusion into question?



The route between Town A and Town B has been plagued by increasing congestion over the last five years, as the area's population has doubled during that time.



Most of XYZ's courier vehicles are heavy trucks, for which speed limits are lower than for passenger vehicles.



Many of the packages carried by XYZ between Town A and Town B are large, high-security packages, for which the processes of loading, unloading, and delivery can take up to half the length of the trip itself.



John will make his personal trip at an hour when XYZ does not make delivery trips.



Before a freeway was built between Town A and Town B two years ago, the only routes between the two towns were state highways with multiple traffic lights and reduced-speed downtown zones.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Mon Nov 19, 2012 11:21 pm
John's conclusion is that he needs 80 minutes to make the trip because the average delivery trip over the past 5 years has taken 80 minutes.

A definitely calls his conclusion into question. If 80 minutes is the average for the last 5 years, and congestion (and therefore travel time) has gotten worse over the past 5 years, then the average trip today must take longer than 80 minutes.

B does as well; if he can travel faster in his personal vehicle, then he doesn't necessarily need 80 minutes.

C does not; loading, unloading, and delivery times were explicitly excluded from the travel time cited.

D calls the conclusion into question by introducing another potential variable (time of travel) for which we have no information.

E is kind of the opposite of A; it would show that the current average is less than the 80 minute average for the past 5 years, so John doesn't need the full 80 minutes.
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