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Paving materials deteriorate faster as they get hotter, and dark paving materials, such as asphalt, get hotter in summer than light-colored materials, such as concrete. Bard County has to make frequent repairs to its asphalt roads, so in order to save on its road maintenance costs it is considering a plan to repave the roads with concrete whenever complete repaving becomes necessary. Fortunately, repaving with concrete is no more expensive than repaving with asphalt.
Which of the following would it be most useful for the county to determine in assessing whether the plan would achieve its goal?
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
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| Paving materials deteriorate faster as they get hotter, and dark paving materials, such as asphalt, get hotter in summer than light-colored materials, such as concrete. |
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| Bard County has to make frequent repairs to its asphalt roads, so in order to save on its road maintenance costs it is considering a plan to repave the roads with concrete whenever complete repaving becomes necessary. |
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| Fortunately, repaving with concrete is no more expensive than repaving with asphalt. |
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The argument starts with a general scientific principle about heat and material deterioration, then applies this to Bard County's specific problem with asphalt roads. It presents concrete as a solution based on the principle that cooler materials last longer, and supports this plan by noting that concrete repaving doesn't cost more upfront.
Bard County should switch to concrete roads to reduce maintenance costs because concrete stays cooler and should therefore last longer than asphalt.
The argument relies on a cause-and-effect chain: since heat causes faster deterioration, and asphalt gets hotter than concrete, then concrete roads should need fewer repairs. However, the argument assumes this temperature difference will actually translate into lower maintenance costs without providing direct evidence.
Evaluate - We need to identify what information would help assess whether switching from asphalt to concrete will actually save maintenance costs
The argument makes specific claims about heat affecting deterioration rates, concrete being lighter colored than asphalt, and equal upfront repaving costs. The goal is saving on road maintenance costs through reduced repairs.
Since this is an evaluate question, we need to think of key assumptions the plan relies on and create scenarios that would either strengthen or weaken the conclusion when we get more information. We should focus on potential gaps between the general principle (heat causes faster deterioration) and whether this actually translates to cost savings in Bard County's specific situation.
This focuses on finding the coolest light-colored material among available options. However, the county has already decided to use concrete specifically, not just any light-colored material. While interesting, this doesn't help evaluate whether their concrete plan will save maintenance costs compared to their current asphalt situation.
The time required for repaving affects convenience and traffic disruption but doesn't directly impact the goal of reducing maintenance costs. Since repaving happens infrequently (only when complete repaving becomes necessary), the duration difference wouldn't significantly affect the cost-saving objective.
Safety considerations are important for road planning, but the question asks specifically about assessing whether the plan would achieve its goal of saving maintenance costs. Safety hazards don't directly relate to the financial objective, though they might be relevant for other decision-making aspects.
Knowing how many roads need repaving helps with budgeting and planning timeline, but it doesn't help evaluate whether switching to concrete will actually save money compared to continuing with asphalt. The number of roads affects the scale of implementation but not the effectiveness of the cost-saving strategy.
This directly addresses the core assumption of the argument. The plan assumes concrete roads will need fewer or less expensive repairs than asphalt roads, leading to maintenance cost savings. However, we only know that concrete stays cooler - we don't know if this actually translates to lower repair costs. If concrete repairs are much more expensive per incident, or if concrete roads still require frequent repairs despite temperature differences, the plan might not save money. This comparison is essential to evaluate whether the goal will be achieved.