Cause of Problem ·Zoning laws create physical separation
New Urbanists claim that zoning laws that separate spaces by function (commercial, residential, school, etc.) also precludes communal spaces (like a town square). This is likened to a family that doesn't have a home.
Opponents' Critique ·Suburban sprawl is an expression of people's values
Opponents do not frame the phenomenon as a problem. Instead, they view it as a legitimate desire to have the kind of lifestyle that suburban sprawl makes possible (house, car, backyard, etc.).
New Urbanists' Rebuttal ·Take a critical view of values and consider the conflict with other values
New Urbanists just want people to take a critical view of these values (individual mobility, consumption, etc.) and to consider that it may conflict with other values (civic engagement, community life, etc.).
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
7.
The second paragraph most strongly ████████ ███ █████████ ████ ███ ███ █████████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ████████████
Question Type
Implied
Other’s perspective
It’s difficult to predict the correct answer, since the New Urbanists’ views are described throughout the second paragraph. Let’s keep an open mind and use process of elimination.
a
Most of those ███ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ███████████ ████ ████ ████ ███ ███████
Supported by the New Urbanists’ belief that having subdivisions containing homes of similar price implies de facto economic segregation. For example, let’s say one neighborhood has one-million-dollar houses. Another neighborhood has $300,000 houses. Why would this imply economic segregation? Because, the New Urbanists think, people who can afford one-million-dollar houses will buy one-million-dollar houses. They wouldn’t buy the $300,000 houses. This is the assumption (A) describes.
We have no reason to think New Urbanists think zoning laws often make neighborhoods more diverse. If anything, New Urbanists think zoning laws often make suburbs more economically uniform.
13%
c
City dwellers who ██ ███ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███████████ █████ ████ ████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██████████
P2 describes feelings of hostility from automobile drivers toward other automobile drivers. It doesn’t mention feelings of non-drivers toward drivers.
P2 doesn’t indicate the New Urbanists’ beliefs about suburban residents’ awareness of health benefits.
5%
e
People generally prefer ██ ████ ██ ██████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ██████ █████
P2 doesn’t indicate the New Urbanists’ beliefs about people’s preferences for similar-looking houses. Although suburbs usually contain houses that are identical in appearance, this doesn’t imply anything regarding people’s preferences about living in similar-looking houses.
10%
Difficulty
66% of people who answer get this correct
This is a difficult question.
It is significantly harder than the average question in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%148
157
75%166
Analysis
Implied
Implied
Stems asking us to infer an idea implied by the claims in the passage (as opposed to identifying an idea that appears explicitly). Similar to most strongly supported questions in LR.
Critique or debate passages contain multiple points of view on a particular subject. Sometimes the author takes sides and participates in the critique or debate, other times the author merely reports the debate.
Passages that present a particular problem and then discuss the implications of that problem. They also often explore one or more solutions to that problem (although they don’t have to).
