A village's ordinances require residents to exercise reasonable care to avoid disturbing their neighbors with noise. The village council may...
GMAT Two Part Analysis : (TPA) Questions
A village's ordinances require residents to exercise reasonable care to avoid disturbing their neighbors with noise. The village council may impose fines for noise violations in response to formal complaints. But unless there have been formal complaints from multiple residents, the council will not consider a complaint if the complaining individual has not attempted to resolve the issue directly with the alleged violator or with the violator's landlord if the violator is a renter. The council's first action in response to any formal verbal or written complaint that they are considering will be to offer to mediate the dispute.
Select for 1 and for 2 two different events such that the guidelines most clearly indicate that if the event selected for 1 occurs, then the event selected for 2 either will occur or has already occurred. Make only two selections, one in each column.
Understanding the Noise Ordinance Process
Visual Representation of the Process Flow
Complaint Process:
- Individual has noise issue
↓ - EITHER:
- Multiple residents complain (formal), OR
- Individual attempts resolution with violator/landlord
- Council considers formal complaint
↓ - Council offers mediation (FIRST ACTION)
↓ - Council may impose fine
Key Constraints from the Passage
- Fine Imposition: Council can impose fines only in response to formal complaints
- Complaint Consideration: Council will NOT consider a single complaint unless:
- Multiple residents have complained formally, OR
- The complaining individual attempted direct resolution
- First Action Rule: When considering ANY formal complaint, council's first action = offer mediation
Analyzing the Logical Relationships
Event A: Council imposes fine
- Prerequisites: Formal complaints → Council consideration → Mediation offered
- Implies: Both B and D must have already occurred
Event B: Council considers formal complaint
- Consequence: Council WILL offer mediation (it's their mandated first action)
- Implies: D will occur
Event C: Individual attempts resolution with violator
- Enables: Council to consider a single complaint (but doesn't guarantee it)
- No guaranteed consequence
Event D: Council offers mediation
- Prerequisites: Council must be considering a formal complaint
- Implies: B has occurred or is occurring
Event E: Individual contacts landlord
- Enables: Council to consider a single complaint (but doesn't guarantee it)
- No guaranteed consequence
Critical Insight
The passage explicitly states that offering mediation is the council's first action when considering any formal complaint. This creates an ironclad logical relationship:
If B (council considers complaint) → Then D (council offers mediation)
This is the clearest "if-then" relationship where event 2 WILL occur after event 1.
Solution
The strongest logical relationship that satisfies the question's requirement is:
Column 1: The council considers a formal written noise complaint (B)
Column 2: The council offers to mediate a dispute about noise (D)
Why This Works
- When the council considers any formal complaint, they MUST offer mediation as their first action
- This is a guaranteed sequence: consideration → mediation offer
- The relationship is explicitly stated in the passage
Other Relationships Considered
- A→B or A→D would also work (fine implies prior consideration and mediation)
- But B→D provides the clearest "will occur" relationship
- C→B or E→B are not guaranteed (attempting resolution enables but doesn't ensure consideration)
Key Exam Strategy
In TPA questions involving processes or procedures:
- Map out the required sequence of events
- Look for explicit "first action" or "must do" statements
- These create the strongest logical relationships
- Choose the relationship with the clearest causal direction