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- Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:00 am
#36652
Complete Question Explanation
Resolve the Paradox—#%. The correct answer choice is (A)
Numbers and Percentages questions can often be quite difficult, and the final question presented in
this section is no exception. Here, the author discusses a recent poll which yielded results that seem
to be somewhat contradictory: based on the results of the poll, slightly less than 50% of the residents
of the city believe Mayor Walker to be guilty of ethics violations (meaning that just over half the
city’s residents do not believe Walker to be guilty of ethics violations). The author goes on to say
that 52% of respondents judged the mayor’s performance as good or excellent. The surprising fact
is that his performance rating has not gone down since the ethics violation accusations were made—
normally one would expect such accusations to drive down a politician’s approval ratings among the
electorate.
The question that follows is a Resolve the Paradox question, which means that we must locate the
answer choice that is consistent with the apparently discrepant poll results. The correct answer
choice will explain how it is possible that the mayor’s performance rating has not decreased as a
result of accusations of ethics violations.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The paradox here is the fact that the
mayor’s popularity numbers did not decrease as a result of ethics violations accusations. If the vast
majority of those who believe the accusations were already against the mayor, then those accusations
would not have changed their votes.
For example, let say that the city in question is a community of 100 people, and 48 people believe
the mayor to be guilty of the ethics violations. If all 48 disliked Walker to begin with, then nothing
would change in the polls:
Before ethics violation accusations: 52 pro-Walker, 48 against.
After ethics violation accusations: 52 pro-Walker, 48 against.
Since this choice explains how the ethics violations didn’t affect Walker’s poll numbers, it is the
correct answer to this Resolve the Paradox question.
Answer choice (B): This choice does not resolve the paradox—if anything it expands it. If people
have recently begun thinking that the other candidates are great, we would have an even greater
expectation of a drop in Walker’s poll numbers.
Answer choice (C): If a fifth of those polled were not aware of the ethics violation accusations, that
means that four fifths of those surveyed were aware. This does not resolve the paradox, which is that
Walker’s poll numbers have not dropped despite the accusations.
Answer choice (D): Again, the paradox from the stimulus is that Walker’s popularity has not gone
down despite recent ethics violation accusations. This choice provides that groups are rallying in
support of Walker’s opponents, so the paradox still exists—with such groups’ supporting the other
side, one would reasonably expect Walker’s popularity to decrease.
Answer choice (E): Walker’s specific claims are not relevant, because the stimulus provided that
almost half of the city’s residents believe Walker to be guilty.
Resolve the Paradox—#%. The correct answer choice is (A)
Numbers and Percentages questions can often be quite difficult, and the final question presented in
this section is no exception. Here, the author discusses a recent poll which yielded results that seem
to be somewhat contradictory: based on the results of the poll, slightly less than 50% of the residents
of the city believe Mayor Walker to be guilty of ethics violations (meaning that just over half the
city’s residents do not believe Walker to be guilty of ethics violations). The author goes on to say
that 52% of respondents judged the mayor’s performance as good or excellent. The surprising fact
is that his performance rating has not gone down since the ethics violation accusations were made—
normally one would expect such accusations to drive down a politician’s approval ratings among the
electorate.
The question that follows is a Resolve the Paradox question, which means that we must locate the
answer choice that is consistent with the apparently discrepant poll results. The correct answer
choice will explain how it is possible that the mayor’s performance rating has not decreased as a
result of accusations of ethics violations.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The paradox here is the fact that the
mayor’s popularity numbers did not decrease as a result of ethics violations accusations. If the vast
majority of those who believe the accusations were already against the mayor, then those accusations
would not have changed their votes.
For example, let say that the city in question is a community of 100 people, and 48 people believe
the mayor to be guilty of the ethics violations. If all 48 disliked Walker to begin with, then nothing
would change in the polls:
Before ethics violation accusations: 52 pro-Walker, 48 against.
After ethics violation accusations: 52 pro-Walker, 48 against.
Since this choice explains how the ethics violations didn’t affect Walker’s poll numbers, it is the
correct answer to this Resolve the Paradox question.
Answer choice (B): This choice does not resolve the paradox—if anything it expands it. If people
have recently begun thinking that the other candidates are great, we would have an even greater
expectation of a drop in Walker’s poll numbers.
Answer choice (C): If a fifth of those polled were not aware of the ethics violation accusations, that
means that four fifths of those surveyed were aware. This does not resolve the paradox, which is that
Walker’s poll numbers have not dropped despite the accusations.
Answer choice (D): Again, the paradox from the stimulus is that Walker’s popularity has not gone
down despite recent ethics violation accusations. This choice provides that groups are rallying in
support of Walker’s opponents, so the paradox still exists—with such groups’ supporting the other
side, one would reasonably expect Walker’s popularity to decrease.
Answer choice (E): Walker’s specific claims are not relevant, because the stimulus provided that
almost half of the city’s residents believe Walker to be guilty.
