Question

Difficulty: HardInferential Comprehension and Deduction

Read the passage below carefully:

When the municipal authority of Ibadan introduced a digital stall-booking platform for the historic Bodija market, officials heralded it as a major policy success that would eliminate informal extortion by self-appointed market wardens. Under the new system, traders were required to register via a smartphone application to reserve their daily commercial spots. However, within six months, over forty percent of micro-vendors—predominantly elderly women selling perishable agricultural produce—had vacated their long-held stalls and relocated to unregulated roadside pavements. While municipal revenue from stall allocations rose by thirty percent, community mediation panels reported a sharp increase in violent altercations between displaced traders and municipal traffic enforcers. Independent analysts noted that the platform's automated allocation algorithm systematically prioritized users who reserved spaces weeks in advance via electronic bank transfers. Consequently, daily-wage traders who depended on immediate cash turnover from each day's sales to finance the next day's allocation were systematically displaced, despite the platform's anti-extortion intent.

Based on the passage, evaluate whether the following statement is TRUE or FALSE:

The introduction of the digital stall-booking platform inadvertently deepened socio-economic disparities among market traders by structurally favoring financially resilient vendors over daily-wage sellers.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True
The deduction is logical and directly supported by textual evidence. The passage contrasts the algorithm's preference for advance electronic payments with daily-wage traders' reliance on immediate cash flow, showing that poorer vendors were systematically pushed out while wealthier or more capital-secure vendors captured the market space.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the text for evidence regarding the operational mechanisms of the digital platform.
The platform required advance electronic payment and smartphone registration, which favored vendors with steady capital and digital access.
To identify unstated structural biases embedded within the policy implementation.
2
Examine the impact of the policy on daily-wage micro-vendors versus larger traders.
Forty percent of micro-vendors were displaced to unregulated spaces because their cash-flow model prevented advance electronic bookings.
To evaluate whether socio-economic inequality widened between different tiers of traders.
3
Synthesize the intent versus the actual implicit outcome.
Despite the anti-extortion intent, the policy inadvertently created a structural advantage for capital-advantaged traders, proving the deduction true.
To deduce the broader socio-economic conclusion supported by textual evidence.

Key Concept

Inferential Comprehension and Deduction
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