Logical reasoning PrepTest 133 · Section 3 · Question 8

Incorrect. The stimulus notes that air conditioning use has overloaded the electrical grid. There are other significant drains on the electrical system, sure, but it's the AC use that's causing the problem here, and so presumably addressing that use should alleviate the problem.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
AC use during a heat wave has led to blackouts, but they will continue even if people stop using their AC so much in their homes unless the heat wave breaks.

Answer Anticipation:
As with all Paradox questions, it's important to clearly define the paradox before we can resolve it. Here, discrepancy is in noting a cause of a problem and how that relates to how to fix it.

The problem is blackouts due to an electrical grid being overtaxed, and it's been overtaxed because of AC use during a heat wave. However, the Analyst notes that alleviating the cause here (asking people to limit their AC use) won't end the effect—the heat wave will have to break in order for that to happen.

In order to explain that, there has to be some gap between asking residents to cut back on AC use and actually lowering AC use enough to stop overloading the electrical grid. How might residents not be able to scale back enough? Well, residential use is only part of the story—there's commercial use of AC, presumably, as well. If the vast majority of the AC energy use in the country is at businesses, then homes cutting back might not be enough to solve the problem.

Answer Explanation:
If most AC in the region cools commercial properties, then residents cutting back on their use might just not have the scale needed to stop the blackouts. This resolves the paradox and is thus the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Make sure to understand the discrepancy or unexpected results in a Paradox question before trying to tackle it. Wrong answers will focus on aspects of the stimulus unrelated to the paradox, and spending time thinking about them is time better spent elsewhere!

Incorrect. The stimulus doesn't discuss redesigning AC units, and that would almost certainly not be something that could be implemented within the time period of the heat wave.

Incorrect. The paradox is that "even if th[e] request" to lower AC is heeded, the problem will still persist, so it doesn't matter if the residents are likely to heed it.

Incorrect. This doesn't explain why, should the heat wave continue, cutting residential AC use wouldn't end the blackouts since they were the cause of the overloaded grid.