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- Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:18 pm
#22645
Question #6: Resolve. The correct answer choice is (D).
The stimulus describes a paradoxical finding. SUVs are safer for their occupants than smaller vehicles are, and yet traffic fatality statistics seem to suggest that the popularity of SUVs is an “alarming trend.” It is not immediately apparent what they mean by this, but obviously SUVs seem more dangerous than their safety records suggest. Our job is to explain why the auto safety experts are alarmed, despite the apparent safety of these vehicles.
Resolve questions aim to test your ability to read closely. In the first sentence of the stimulus, the author describes SUVs as safer for their occupants, which does not necessarily hold true for the pedestrians, cyclists, or other vehicles that may collide with them. So, it is entirely possible that SUVs pose a safety hazard to those with whom they share the road, even if their own occupants enjoy an increased level of safety. This prephrase would account for conclusion of the auto safety experts, and agrees most closely with answer choice (D).
Answer choice (A): This is an Opposite answer, as it deepens the paradox in question. If vehicles with a reputation for being safer (such as SUVs) tend to also be driven more carefully than other vehicles, then SUVs should be even safer than the facts suggest. This makes the safety experts’ concern even more puzzling.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice only explains why SUVs are expensive to operate, which has absolutely no bearing on the issue at stake.
Answer choice (C): If SUVs tend to carry more passengers than smaller vehicles do, we would expect a higher number of fatalities in an accident involving an SUV. The facts, however suggest otherwise: apparently, SUVs are safer for their occupants than smaller vehicles are. If you found this answer choice attractive, you must have deviated from the facts as they are presented in the stimulus.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. If the average number of fatalities in collisions between SUVs and smaller vehicles is unusually high, then it is reasonable to worry about the increasing popularity of SUVs even if SUVs are safer for their own occupants. This answer choice successfully reconciles the relative safety of SUVs with the experts’ concern.
Answer choice (E): If smaller cars and SUVs are equally likely to be involved in collisions, but SUVs are still safer for their occupants than smaller vehicles are, then experts should worry more about the popularity of smaller vehicles, not SUVs. This answer choice makes the safety experts’ concern even more puzzling, clouding the issue we need to resolve.
The stimulus describes a paradoxical finding. SUVs are safer for their occupants than smaller vehicles are, and yet traffic fatality statistics seem to suggest that the popularity of SUVs is an “alarming trend.” It is not immediately apparent what they mean by this, but obviously SUVs seem more dangerous than their safety records suggest. Our job is to explain why the auto safety experts are alarmed, despite the apparent safety of these vehicles.
Resolve questions aim to test your ability to read closely. In the first sentence of the stimulus, the author describes SUVs as safer for their occupants, which does not necessarily hold true for the pedestrians, cyclists, or other vehicles that may collide with them. So, it is entirely possible that SUVs pose a safety hazard to those with whom they share the road, even if their own occupants enjoy an increased level of safety. This prephrase would account for conclusion of the auto safety experts, and agrees most closely with answer choice (D).
Answer choice (A): This is an Opposite answer, as it deepens the paradox in question. If vehicles with a reputation for being safer (such as SUVs) tend to also be driven more carefully than other vehicles, then SUVs should be even safer than the facts suggest. This makes the safety experts’ concern even more puzzling.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice only explains why SUVs are expensive to operate, which has absolutely no bearing on the issue at stake.
Answer choice (C): If SUVs tend to carry more passengers than smaller vehicles do, we would expect a higher number of fatalities in an accident involving an SUV. The facts, however suggest otherwise: apparently, SUVs are safer for their occupants than smaller vehicles are. If you found this answer choice attractive, you must have deviated from the facts as they are presented in the stimulus.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. If the average number of fatalities in collisions between SUVs and smaller vehicles is unusually high, then it is reasonable to worry about the increasing popularity of SUVs even if SUVs are safer for their own occupants. This answer choice successfully reconciles the relative safety of SUVs with the experts’ concern.
Answer choice (E): If smaller cars and SUVs are equally likely to be involved in collisions, but SUVs are still safer for their occupants than smaller vehicles are, then experts should worry more about the popularity of smaller vehicles, not SUVs. This answer choice makes the safety experts’ concern even more puzzling, clouding the issue we need to resolve.