Question 137·Medium·Inferences
At a city council workshop, a transportation planner proposes a 10-week pilot converting one of Pine Street’s two eastbound lanes into a combined bus-and-bike lane. Several councilmembers worry that if the pilot increases congestion, undoing the change will be costly and disruptive. The planner explains that the barriers are rented, installed without drilling, and can be removed in a single evening; the team will post daily travel-time data and has a trigger to restore the lane if delays exceed a set threshold for three consecutive weekdays. Taken together, these details most strongly support the inference that the planner wants the council to see the pilot as ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For “inference from details” completion questions, first identify the main concern or problem in the setup, then underline the specific details the author gives in response. Ask yourself: What attitude or message are these details trying to convey—reassuring, alarming, permanent, temporary, etc.? Form that idea in your own words, and only then compare it to the answer choices, eliminating any options that introduce new ideas not in the passage or that contradict key details. This prevents you from being distracted by choices that sound strong but aren’t supported by the text.
Hints
Locate the key contrast
Find the contrast between what the councilmembers fear and what the planner explains. What are the councilmembers afraid will happen if the pilot causes congestion?
Examine the details about the barriers and data
Look closely at the descriptions of the barriers (rented, no drilling, removable in one evening) and the plan to post daily travel-time data with a trigger to restore the lane. Do these details make the project sound more or less permanent and disruptive?
Connect the tone to the choices
Think about the planner’s tone: is he trying to alarm the council, promise a permanent solution, focus on appearance, or calm their worries about risk and disruption? Then choose the option that best matches that tone.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the councilmembers’ concern
First, focus on what the councilmembers are worried about: they fear that if the pilot increases congestion, then undoing the change will be costly and disruptive. So the main issue is the risk and difficulty of reversing the pilot if it goes badly.
Notice how the planner responds
Now look at the details the planner gives:
- The barriers are rented.
- They are installed without drilling.
- They can be removed in a single evening.
- The team will post daily travel-time data.
- There is a trigger to restore the lane if delays are too high for three weekdays.
All of these points show that the change is temporary, easy to remove, and will be monitored with clear rules for when to revert it.
Infer the message behind those details
Ask: Why would the planner stress that the materials are rented, easy to install and remove, and that there is daily data and a trigger to revert the change?
Those details are clearly meant to reassure the council that trying this pilot is not a big, permanent commitment and that they can quickly go back if needed.
Match that idea to the answer choices
Now compare that inferred idea to the options:
- One choice emphasizes that the pilot is a small, reversible test, not a long‑term overhaul.
- The other choices talk about a permanent fix, a beautification project, or an expensive, hard‑to‑undo construction project.
Only Choice A) a low-risk, easily reversible test rather than a permanent overhaul. matches the planner’s emphasis on rented, non-drilled barriers, quick removal, and a clear trigger to restore the lane.