PrepTest F97 - Section 1 - Question 18 | Explanation & Discussion

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Mayor Tyler: Support In 1982 the courthouse that Roseville still needs would have cost $26 million. ███ ██ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ████ ████ █ █████ ██████ ███ ███ ████████ █████ ███████ ███ ████████████ ██ ████ █████████████ █████████ █████ ████ █████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ████

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Stimulus Breakdown

Mayor Taylor and Councillor Simón are arguing about a new courthouse being built in Roseville in 1992.

Mayor Taylor concludes that Roseville would have saved money by building the courthouse in 1982, when it first would have helped to reduce overcrowding. This is because in 1982, the courthouse would have cost $26 million, whereas in 1992, it costs $30 million. Mayor Taylor's argument doesn't consider any additional factors, just the difference in construction cost between 1982 and 1992.

Councillor Simón concludes that Roseville actually saved money by not building the courthouse earlier, for two reasons. First, after accounting for inflation, the $26 million construction cost in 1982 actually amounts to $37 million in 1992 dollars. Second, Roseville has saved money by not having to maintain a courthouse that would have been under-used for ten years. Councillor Simón's argument relies on the inflation-adjusted difference in construction cost and the maintenance cost that building the courthouse earlier would have incurred.

18.

A point at issue between █████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███████

Question Type

Point at issue: disagree

The most obvious disagreement is whether Roseville financially benefited from delaying the construction of the courthouse until 1992. Mayor Taylor says no, whereas Councillor Simón says yes. But there's also another, subtler disagreement: whether the courthouse would have truly been worth building in 1982. Mayor Taylor says yes, it would have relieved overcrowding, whereas Councillor Simón says no, it would have been under-used.

The correct answer could identify either of those disagreements, or something even less obvious that we haven't spotted. The best way to check is to identify whether each speaker agrees, disagrees, or neither with any possible answer choice. The answer choice will only be correct if one speaker actively agrees and the other actively disagrees.

Roseville will build █ ██████████ ██ ████

Will Roseville build a courthouse in 1992?

Mayor Taylor: ✅

Councillor Simón: ✅

Both speakers treat it as a given that the courthouse is being built in 1992.

$37 million in ████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ███████

Is $37 million in 1992 dollars equivalent to $26 million in 1982 dollars?

Mayor Taylor: ❓

Councillor Simón: ✅

Councillor Simón thinks these amounts are equivalent. But we can't say that Mayor Taylor disagrees, because Mayor Taylor doesn't address inflation at all.

23%

Mayor Tyler is ███████████ ███ ███ ████████ █████ █████████ ███████

Is Mayor Tyler responsible for the city’s major financial reports?

Mayor Taylor: ❓

Councillor Simón: ❓

Councillor Simón says that Mayor Taylor has made some financial reports, but neither speaker addresses whether Mayor Taylor actually has responsibility for the city's major financial reports.

Roseville actually needed █ ███ ██████████ ███████ ████ ███ ████

Did Roseville actually need a new courthouse between 1982 and 1992?

Mayor Taylor: ✅

Councillor Simón: ❌

Mayor Taylor thinks Roseville needed a courthouse to relieve overcrowding in 1982. Councillor Simón thinks the courthouse wouldn't have been used much before 1992.

50%

Roseville would have ████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████████ █ ██████████ ████ ████ ██ ████

Would Roseville have expended $4 million to maintain a courthouse from 1982 to 1992?

Mayor Taylor: ❓

Councillor Simón: ❓

Mayor Taylor doesn't mention maintenance costs at all. Councillor Simón thinks Roseville has saved some money on maintenance, but never specifies how much.

24%

PrepTest F97 - Section 1 - Question 18

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