cbiem wrote:I just took this test recently as well, and 12 & 16 are the only two Critical Reading questions I got wrong on the whole test! I've posted them both below, including my first choice answers and the official correct answers. Any thoughts on why my reasoning failed me Here's what they look like:
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Questions 12-13 are based on the following.
According to the Tristate Transportation Authority, making certain improvements to the main commuter rail line would increase ridership dramatically. The authority plans to finance these improvements over the course of five years by raising automobile tolls on the two highway bridges along the route the rail line serves. Although the proposed improvements are indeed needed, the authority's plan for securing the necessary funds should be rejected because it would unfairly force drivers to absorb the entire cost of something from which they receive no benefit.
#12:
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the effectiveness of the authority's plan to finance the proposed improvements by increasing bridge tolls?
(A) Before the authority increases tolls on any of the area bridges, it is required by law to hold public hearings at which objections to the proposed increase can be raised.
(B) Whenever bridge tolls are increased, the authority must pay a private contractor to adjust the automated toll-collecting machines.
(C) Between the time a proposed toll increase is announced and the time the increase is actually put into effect, many commuters buy more tokens than usual to postpone the effects of the increase.
(D) When tolls were last increased on the two bridges in question, almost 20 percent of the regular commuter traffic switched to a slightly longer alternative route that has since been improved.
(E) The chairman of the authority is a member of the Tristate Automobile Club that has registered strong opposition to the proposed toll increase
My Answer: A
Official Correct Answer: D
I specifically eliminated choice D first, as the easiest non-brainer of all because 20% shouldn't be nearly enough of an obstacle to make the plan non-cost effective. At worst, it just means the plan would need to be adjusted to a 6-year projection instead of a 5-year projection, which is peanuts in the land of government projects. More importantly, the prompt only asks about the viability of funding the improvement through increased bridge tolls, not on the timing projections for raising the funds this way. Choice B is obviously nonsense so I eliminated that too, followed by C and D which were pretty easy to pick off because they seemed like they were clearly designed as diversions since they may or may not actually make any significant different at all in real life. I chose A because in real life whenever there's a public hearing on an unpopular local government proposal, it's pretty much dead on arrival and I've never really witnessed an exception to this rule of thumb anywhere I've ever lived, and I follow politics A LOT. I guess I can see choice A was designed as a diversion too since it's theoretically possible for an unpopular proposal to win enough support to pass after a public hearing, but since all of the answers seemed to have significant holes in them the question was just which answer had the smallest hole. In my opinion, answer A has a waaaaay smaller hole in it than the official correct answer choice D, even now that I know I'm 'wrong.'
Of course, even in a hypothetical case in which I'm objectively right and GMAC is objectively wrong, all I get is a sense of validation and a lower GMAT score. So, how do I learn how to recognize when they are essentially asking for what I regard as a clearly wrong answer, so that I can just give them what they want and get points for the problem?
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Question 16:
Advertisement:
Today's customers expect high quality. Every advance in the quality of manufactured products raises customer expectations. The company that is satisfied with the current quality of its products will soon find that its customers are not. At MegaCorp, meeting or exceeding customer expectations is our goal.
Which of the following must be true on the basis of the statements in the advertisement above?
(A) MegaCorp's competitors will succeed in attracting customers only if those competitors adopt MegaCorp's goal as their own.
(B) A company that does not correctly anticipate the expectations of its customers is certain to fail in advancing the quality of its products.
(C) MegaCorp's goal is possible to meet only if continuing advances in product quality are possible.
(D) If a company becomes satisfied with the quality of its products, then the quality of its products is sure to decline.
(E) MegaCorp's customers are currently satisfied with the quality of its products.
My Answer: A (2nd choice C)
Official Correct Answer: C
I originally chose C first, and then changed my mind at the last second and entered A. I guess my reasoning was basically that if further product improvements are truly impossible, customers will continue buying the best product available to them even though their now impossibly high expectations can not be met. In such a situation, MegaCorp will still dominate market share for that product class, in which case they will probably be pretty happy even if their delusional customers are pissy because they basically can't buy magic. Since everyone knows that every company's main objective is profitability, and that corporate mission statements and goals are merely statements about what very high level strategy they think will help them achieve this primary goal of profitability most efficiently, MegaCorp's stated goal of "meeting or exceeding customer expectations" is essentially satisfied for all intents and purposes in the real world.
Just a note, please hide the OA.
Coming to your point.
For the first question the answer has to be D, because this option tells us something interesting about the toll increase(which we need by the way). The percentage does not matter here, what matters is the result of the action,and the result was unfavourable.So repeating the same will not jeopardize its plans to gain funds.Try not to bring real life situtaions or thought process into the GMAT. Your score will improve.
Also on the face of it. Do you really think that option A, is relevant to the prompt?What is more important here, the money matters or the legislation?Think strictly as per the given information.
Suppose If I say "The students of this school are not getting high grades"
Then should I think of conducting a meet of parents and tell them that they have to help their children to study at home OR
Should I try to know the situation or check what other schools have done to improve the grades of the students? Maybe introduce some new exciting learning methods or recruit new teachers?
I know the above analogy is not similar to the prompt above, but the point is what is more important!improvement of grades or meeting?
Just try to stay with the prompt, some things on the GMAT may sound too good to be true, but do we need to satisfy our thirst or their's?GMAC right?To score?
For the second question, try to (again) restrict yourself to what the prompt says. What do we need to discuss about Megacorp's competitors?We are interested in Megacorp's business not about anything or anybody else!If Megacorp continues its advancement it will meet its goal as stated in the prompt and not otherwise. Else their claim will be false or incorrect.
One suggestion is restrict your thoughts to the info given in the prompt.
Remember, we need to choose best answer among the given options, and not in the world.
Hope I am able to help you. If you are not satisfied, ask experts such as Ron or Stacy, they might help you further.
Good luck!
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!
