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Difficulty: EasyBridging Conflicting Premises

Last year, the city of Oakhaven implemented a strict water conservation program. In response, residents successfully reduced their average daily water usage by 20 percent per person. Surprisingly, despite this widespread compliance among residents, Oakhaven's total municipal water consumption was actually higher last year than it was the year before the program began.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above?

  1. Several large manufacturing plants, which account for the majority of the city's overall water use, opened in Oakhaven last year.Answer
  2. B
    The percentage of residents participating in the water conservation program was much higher than city officials had initially expected.
  3. C
    The residential water meters used to measure individual usage are known to frequently underestimate actual water consumption.
  4. D
    Oakhaven experienced unusually hot and dry weather last year, a condition that typically causes residents to consume significantly more water.
  5. E
    A neighboring city that did not implement any conservation policies saw an even larger increase in its total municipal water consumption last year.

Answer

The correct answer is the option stating that several large manufacturing plants, which account for the majority of the city's overall water use, opened in Oakhaven last year.
The correct answer resolves the paradox by introducing a massive, non-residential source of water consumption. If industrial plants use the majority of the city's water and they just opened last year, this new industrial usage would easily outweigh the 20 percent reduction in residential usage. This perfectly explains how total municipal consumption increased while individual residential consumption decreased, allowing both premises to logically coexist.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two seemingly conflicting premises in the stimulus.
Premise 1: Residents reduced their per-person water usage by 20 percent. Premise 2: Total municipal water consumption increased.
Understanding the exact nature of the paradox is required before attempting to bridge the gap.
2
Determine what is missing or assumed between the conflicting facts.
The stimulus assumes that residential usage dictates total municipal usage, ignoring other potential categories of water consumers (like industrial, commercial, or agricultural users).
Identifying the 'missing link' allows you to anticipate the type of information needed to resolve the discrepancy.
3
Evaluate the options to find one that allows both premises to be true simultaneously.
The option regarding new manufacturing plants explains that a new, massive source of non-residential water consumption was introduced, which mathematically overrides the residential savings.
A correct resolution must explain the overall increase without contradicting the fact that individual residents successfully conserved water.

Key Concept

To resolve a paradox involving a rate or subset (per-person residential usage) versus a total count (overall municipal usage), look for a change in another subset or a change in the overall baseline.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Bridging Conflicting Premises

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