Q11 - As part of a project to enhance the downtown

[Laura Damone]

Question Type:
Strengthen: Principle Support

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: A more modest station should be built so the tunnel can be included. Premises: The current fancy design doesn’t include the tunnel to the waterfront line. Adding the tunnel would make the station much more convenient for commuters but would also push the project over budget. The budget can't be increased.

Answer Anticipation:
Like so many Principle support questions, this argument concludes a recommendation. We need a principle that governs this sort of recommendation and connects it back to the facts expressed in the premises. What's the recommendation? We should build a more modest station with the tunnel. What are we connecting it back to? Probably the convenience for the commuters. Anticipate a correct answer that says convenience to the commuter should be paramount. Anticipate incorrect answers that address a slightly different recommendation, or that connect the recommendation back to facts not expressed in the premises.

Correct answer:
C

Answer choice analysis:
(A) This is a recommendation about design, not about the actual building of the tunnel, so that's one strike against A. The second strike is that "costs less than the amount budgeted" isn't a fact expressed about the building we conclude should be built!

(B) This is a recommendation about considerations, not about the actual building of the tunnel. It doesn’t help us conclude that we should go with this particular build.

(C) Bingo! When comparing convenience against majesty, convenience wins the day. It bridges the gap between the facts and the recommendation. Some might be put off by the fact that this recommendation is about what should be given priority in the enhancement of downtown, not about the actual building of the tunnel itself. But, if we should prioritize convenience in the enhancement of downtown, it follows that we should build the station with the convenient tunnel. This is a more general principle that can be applied to this specific case.

(D) This is a recommendation to abandon all station-building plans. No way!

(E) This is a recommendation about the station relative to other projects. Those other projects aren't within the scope of this argument.

Takeaway/Pattern:
When a Principle Support question concludes a recommendation, look for an answer that connects the facts from the premises to that recommendation. Beware answers that target a slightly different recommendation (A, B, D, and E), but stay flexible: sometimes the right answer is a more general principle that can be applied to the particular circumstance of the stimulus.

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